Heat star Jimmy Butler expects to be available for more regular season games this year, although he declined to set a specific goal, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Butler has been limited to 58, 52, 57, 64 and 60 games in his five seasons in Miami, and team president Pat Riley referred to him as “fragile” in a postseason press conference. Butler understands that the only way to change that narrative is to be on the court more often.
“I want to play as many games as possible,” he said. “I’ll leave it at that. I don’t need to put a number on the amount of games that I play. I know the more games that I play, the more opportunities that my squad has of winning. I do know that.”
Chiang notes that Butler has already increased his preseason output, logging 16 minutes in Tuesday’s opener after not playing at all last year. Butler told reporters that he also expects to be in the lineup for Sunday afternoon’s game against New Orleans. Butler has already declared his intention to turn down a $52.4MM player option and test free agency next summer, but he said that’s not his motivation for wanting to play more games.
“If we’re being brutally honest, no matter what, nothing I do now is going to get me paid any more money,” Butler said. “Even though I don’t care about the money. All-NBA, dah, dah, dah, dah, none of that is going to matter. I’m at a point right now that I got more than enough money. I’m just here to win.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Rookie guard Kyshawn George made his first preseason start Friday and responded with nine points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. At 6’8″, George has the size to play several positions, but Shankar notes that he looked comfortable running the Wizards‘ offense. “I just try to read the defense and trust my teammates to be at the right spot at the right moment,” George said. “And it’s just on me to make the right read and make the play.”
- Mark Williams, who is dealing with a strained tendon in his left foot, no longer needs a walking boot and will be reevaluated before the start of the season, the Hornets announced (via Twitter). Williams was limited to 19 games last season due to a back issue.
- Magic center Wendell Carter Jr., who is day-to-day with a sprained left ankle he suffered in Monday’s game, didn’t practice today, but he’s “doing OK,” coach Jahmal Mosley told Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). “We’re going to continue to check and see how he responds to each one of the treatments he does while not being on the court fully through practice,” Mosley said.