Caron Butler Open to Playing for Miami Heat Again


Former Miami Heat star (and current Dallas Maverick) Caron Butler tells Fox Sports that he wouldn’t exactly be opposed to taking his talents back to South Beach: “Butler, a two-time All-Star working his way back from a season-ending knee injury suffered in January, will be an unrestricted free agent whenever the NBA lockout ends. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Miami, where Butler broke into the NBA and played from 2002-04, took a look at him. ‘It’d be interesting,’ Butler said in an interview with FOX Sports Florida about the prospect of returning to the Heat. Asked whether Miami is on his list, Butler eventually said, ‘Yes.’ But he didn’t want to talk too much about the Heat, which is understandable. Butler, 31, remains loyal to Dallas, which wants him back after a season in which Butler went down with a ruptured right patellar tendon Jan. 1 and could only watch as the Mavericks beat the Heat for the NBA title last June. And he has no idea what the new rules might be in the NBA. ‘I love Dallas, what that organization, the fans, what they did for me when I went down and got injured,’ said Butler, who went scoreless in 12 minutes in the South Florida All-Star Classic on Saturday night, an event put on at Florida International University by Heat stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. ‘They supported me and stood by my side. Winning a championship there and being part of that there, that’s always special. So I just don’t know what it’s going to end up like. You got to see how stuff is structured with the new deal, the new collective bargaining agreement.’ Butler said Mavericks officials told him before the lockout started July 1 they want to re-sign him. But it’s unclear what type of salary Butler, who made $10.56 million last season, might be able to command.”