Despite all of the trade rumors and chaos, Jimmy Butler is still a member of the Miami Heat at this juncture, and he will be eligible to return from his suspension when Miami takes on the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 17 in a rematch of the 2023 NBA Finals.

With all that in mind, the Heat organization reportedly issued a message to its players in which the idea of the 35-year-old returning to the team following his suspension was described as the “most likely next step.”

That message was relayed “in the wake of Butler’s trade request and subsequent suspension.”

“While trades can always materialize quickly in the Association, team sources say Miami is prepared to take its time with a Butler trade to maximize its return,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote. “This was the messaging shared internally after Butler was suspended seven games by the team on Friday for ‘conduct detrimental to the team,’ and before the Heat embarked on a six-game, 10-day road trip that continues with a game at Utah on Thursday night.”

“In the wake of Butler’s trade request and subsequent suspension, team officials told Heat players that the prospect of the 35-year-old, six-time All-Star returning to the court with them after the suspension was the most likely next step. With Butler’s actions on and off the court seen by Heat officials as increasingly problematic, team sources say they opted to sit him for the entirety of this trip so that the issues could be addressed in earnest when the team returns home rather than on the road.”

The Heat will play their fourth game in a row sans Butler when they take on the Utah Jazz (again) on Thursday night. Miami will be seeking revenge against Utah after the outcome of the Jan. 4 matchup between the two teams.

In what was the Heat’s first game of Butler’s suspension, Miami lost to the Jazz by a final score of 136-100.

A career night from Brice Sensabaugh doomed the Heat, as he dropped a career-high 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Sensabaugh is averaging just 9.4 points per game with the Jazz across 28 games played so far this season.

The Jazz have actually been playing some of their best basketball of the season lately. One day after blowing out the Heat, Utah earned a road win over another Eastern Conference playoff contender in the Orlando Magic. The Jazz then lost a close game to the Atlanta Hawks.

It remains to be seen who will lead the scoring charge for Miami on Thursday, but Nikola Jovic has seemingly embraced a larger role on the offensive side of the ball in recent contests. He’s dropped double digits in points in each of Miami’s last three games and dropped a team-high 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor in the Heat’s win over the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 7.