A new plotline emerged out of nowhere amid the stagnant Jimmy Butler drama. The post Pat Riley Stands Firm on Trade Stance Against Suns as Jimmy Butler Faces $121 Million Dilemma appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Pat Riley, the well-known and longtime president of the Miami Heat, has long been a champion of responsibility, structure, and discipline. As a head coach, he created winning teams that were driven by perseverance and cooperation.

In games where he has played, Butler has gotten the sense that Miami's offense is gearing more toward the Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo duo, forcing him to be the third option. Although Herro is having a career year, Butler feels that if he's going to be the third option, he'd rather be a third option for Phoenix.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett harshly critique Pat Riley's 'Heat Culture' in a candid and brutal rant, revealing their true feelings.

“Is it really a change?” questioned KD in regards to Beal’s new role. Durant ‘argues’ that the shooting guard is still getting his required touches, more or less. “You’re [Beal] still playing a lot of minutes, getting his shots up. Last 3 games, I just feel like he’s more comfortable.”

The Miami Heat trade drama has been the talk of the town this season. Every passing day, Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler seems to grow apart further and further.

As Jimmy Butler remains suspended from the Miami Heat, NBA TV analyst Dennis Scott cautioned the star about teaming up with Kevin Durant.

None of that is new, but Butler reiterated it face-to-face with Miami Heat president Pat Riley, Shams Charania of ESPN reports ... both because he wants to play with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, and because their owner, Mat Ishbia, has said he is ...

ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins reports Durant wants the six-time NBA All-Star -- his former teammate on the 2016 USA Olympic gold-medal winning team -- in Phoenix, and that each would sign a contract extension with the Suns if a trade materializes.

Miami Heat President Pat Riley discussed the importance of honoring contracts in the NBA, a statement that seemed to be a veiled reference to Jimmy Butler amid ongoing trade rumors.

If Jimmy Butler indeed is in the midst of his endgame with the Miami Heat, the process hardly is an outlier during Pat Riley’s three decades of stewardship of the franchise.

If Pat Riley is going to successfully emerge from the mess he and his team find themselves in, the Miami Heat president will have to take the most difficult advice of his career: His own. For at least the third time in just over a decade,