On January 4, Beijing time, the Heat officially announced that Butler would be suspended from pay and banned for seven games due to his many adverse behaviors to the team in the past few weeks. The Heat said Butler's actions and rhetoric prove that he doesn't want to be a member of the Heat anymore. Meanwhile, the Heat announced they would listen to offers as Butler and his agent expressed a desire to be traded.

Under the collective bargaining agreement, Butler will lose $346543 per game, totaling about $2.35 million for seven games. He has the right to file a complaint within the next 30 days, and if he chooses to do so, the fine will be held in trust until a resolution is reached, a process that can take up to a year.

Previously, team reporter Jackson reported that sources revealed that Butler had a conversation with Butler a few hours before the heated postgame press conference. Butler was bothered by the conversation and thought the Heat executives were suggesting that Butler was slacking off. Butler returned after missing five games due to illness, scoring just nine points on just five shots against the Pelicans.

The Heat believe the conversation is just an expression of the team's concerns about Butler's behavior because of recent trade rumors.

Butler's team believes the team is considering using this to suspend Butler, and the Heat insist they never wanted to suspend Butler on that ground. But now the results prove that the Heat still decided to suspend Butler without pay, which also shows that the relationship between the two sides is completely broken! Eight days ago, Riley said he wouldn't trade Butler, and now it's clear that things are completely different.

Earlier, sources said that Butler's attitude could not intimidate Pat Riley. Butler has previously said he would be willing to play for the Rockets, Mavericks, Suns and Warriors, but did not provide a list of his next home after requesting a trade, and Butler believes he can take any team to new heights.