Riley: Butler Seeked Role We Couldn’t Give

The former Heat forward (Caron Butler) ultimately elected to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, instead of a reunion, with (Pat) Riley indicating the Heat could not guarantee a specific role in the wake of Butler’s buyout from the Milwaukee Bucks.

“I think when you look at our roster, and I think in our conversations with them, they wanted a meaningful role, and I don’t blame them,” Riley said. “And we’re pretty deep. When you’ve got James Jones and Udonis Haslem and Rashard Lewis in those positions, they’re waiting, and Mike [Beasley] and Greg [Oden] are getting minutes from [roster spots] nine and 10. They were looking for something else.

“We love Caron. We reached out to him. But he was very definitive with what he wanted and I don’t think it’s something we could have promised.”

via Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel