Jimmy Butler’s potential extension at center of important Heat offseason. A look at the situation

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) and forward Jimmy Butler (22) meet up on the court before the start of the game against the Toronto Raptors at the Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida

Now that the Miami Heat’s season is over after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, the attention turns to the important draft, trade and free agency questions that need to be answered this offseason.

But one of the biggest questions facing the Heat this summer involves one of the best players on its roster. Jimmy Butler, who turns 35 on Sept. 14, is expected to seek a maximum two-year contract extension worth about $113 million from the Heat this offseason, according to a league source. READ NEXT MIAMI HEAT Heat’s season ends with blowout loss to Celtics in first round.

Takeaways and postgame reaction MAY 01, 2024 9:53 PM The three-year, $146.4 million extension that Butler signed with the Heat in the 2021 offseason includes a guaranteed $48.8 million salary for next season and a $52.4 million player option for the 2025-26 season.

The extension that Butler will seek would replace his 2025-26 option and begin that season. This two-year max extension would include salaries of $54.3 million for the 2025-26 season (nearly a $2 million increase from the player option in Butler’s current contract for that season) and $58.6 million for the 2026-2027 season when Butler will be 37 years old.

Those numbers could fluctuate based on where the NBA’s salary cap is set for those seasons. Butler is limited to the maximum of a two-year extension because the over-38 rule does not allow him to sign a new contract that would take him past the next three years, including the one season of guaranteed money remaining on his current deal. So essentially, Butler will be asking the Heat to replace the two years and $101.2 million remaining on his contract (should he exercise the 2025-26 player option) with a three-year commitment worth $161.7 million.

For perspective on those salary numbers, Butler is set to be the 11th-highest paid player in the NBA next season with a $48.8 million salary under his current contract. If Butler gets the extension that he will ask the Heat for, he would be the eighth-highest paid player in the league for the 2025-26 season (based on contracts already signed that include the 2025-26 season) with a salary of $54.3 million.

Butler would also be the sixth-highest paid player for the 2026-27 season (based on contracts already signed that include the 2026-27 season) with a salary of $58.6 million. Whether the Heat gives Butler this deal will be decided in the coming months, as the window to sign him to an extension opens July 7.

With Butler expected to go for the extension that includes declining his 2025-26 player option and replacing it with a new two-year contract, the window to sign that type of deal doesn’t close until June 30, 2025. But the expectation is Butler and his camp will push for that extension before the start of the upcoming season.

Choosing not to offer this exact extension this offseason could lead to a disgruntled Butler. One veteran who signed a max extension a few years ago in his 30s is Damian Lillard, who was days away from turning 32 when he signed one with the Portland Trail Blazers in July 2022.

LeBron James also signed a max extension with the Los Angeles Lakers in August 2022 when he was 37. Butler’s Heat co-star Bam Adebayo, who is currently under contract through the 2025-26 season, is also eligible to sign an extension this offseason.

Adebayo, who turns 27 on July 18, is eligible to sign a four-year, $245 million extension this offseason with the Heat if he meets the supermax criteria. He can become eligible for a supermax extension by winning the Defensive Player of the Year award (he’s one of the three finalists for the honor) or by being named to an All-NBA team (first, second or third) this season.

But if Adebayo doesn’t qualify for the supermax, he will instead be eligible for a three-year contract worth $165 million. Any extension Adebayo signs this offseason would begin in the 2026-27 season.