NBA Agent: 'You Cannot Intimidate' Heat's Pat Riley amid Jimmy Butler Trade Rumors

Multiple people within the NBA have suggested that Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is tempting fate by seemingly trying to force a trade.

According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, a prominent agent offered a word of warning to Butler regarding his posturing as it relates to Heat president and legendary NBA head coach Pat Riley, saying: "You cannot intimidate Pat Riley."

Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps, a rival executive added: "You never want to get in a fight with someone who has nothing to lose. And Pat has nothing to lose."

Amid recent rumors and speculation that Butler wanted to be traded before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, Riley took a hardline stance last week, releasing the following statement: "We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear—we are not trading Jimmy Butler."

After Miami's 128-115 home loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, during which Butler scored just nine points and was a team-worst minus-27, the 35-year-old veteran suggested to reporters that he wanted a fresh start elsewhere, saying:

"I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we'll find out here pretty soon. I'm happy here off the court, but I want to be back to somewhat dominant, I want to hoop and I want to help this team win, and right now I'm not doing it."

Butler replied, "Probably not," when asked if he could find his joy again as a member of the Heat.

Following Butler's comments, ESPN's Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst reported that Butler "indicated" to the Heat that he wants to be traded.

Charania and Windhorst added that Butler will continue to play, take part in team activities and do whatever is asked of him for as long as he is with the Heat.

Butler is in the midst of his sixth season in Miami, and while only two of his six career All-Star selections have come during his Heat tenure, he has enjoyed enormous success with the franchise, leading it to the NBA Finals twice.

He is having a down year statistically, though, as his 17.6 points per game is his lowest scoring output since the 2013-14 season. Butler has been efficient, though, shooting 55.2 percent from the field.

Assuming he opts out of his contract, Butler can become a free agent this offseason, so it would likely behoove the Heat to trade him rather than losing him for nothing.

Moving out a proven producer like Butler would hurt the Heat's chances of winning this season, but at 17-15, they don't appear to be on the same level as the Eastern Conference's elite teams in the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.

Although trading Butler would be a step back in the short term, it would allow the Heat to start making their plans for next season and beyond with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro remaining as the clear core of the roster.