A superstar's contract situation can become a big enough distraction to hurt a team's on-court production. However, Jimmy Butler, who can become a free agent next summer if he declines his player option worth $52.4, is bent on keeping his focus not on how much he can make on his next contract but on raising the Miami Heat's level of play.

This is the "Jimmy Buckets" the franchise needs consistently, especially after the 6-foot-7 wingman from Marquette missed 22 regular season games and all of the postseason due to a knee injury. And while there have been lots of talks involving his contract status and the fact that he has yet to sign an extension with the Heat, Butler has repeatedly reiterated that his priority is to win.

It's not about the money for Butler

In a talk with Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, Jimmy said he won't be playing to prove himself worthy of another max contract. After all, he has amassed quite a fortune in his 13-year NBA career (more than $260 million in career earnings). Instead, Butler's focus is on leading the Heat to an NBA title.

"If we're being brutally honest, no matter what, nothing I do now is going to get me paid any more money," the six-time All-Star shared. "Even though I don't care about the money. All-NBA, dah, dah, dah, dah, none of that is going to matter. I'm at a point right now that I got more than enough money. I'm just here to win."

If the Heat are to improve on their 46-win campaign last season, it all starts with Butler's availability -- he has yet to play in 65 regular-season games in his five seasons in Miami. Jimmy said he knows this, and although injuries are inevitable in the NBA, he will try to take care of his body as best he can.

"I want to play as many games as possible," Butler said. "I'll leave it at that. I don't need to put a number on the amount of games that I play. I know the more games that I play, the more opportunities that my squad has of winning. I do know that."

Putting his money where his mouth is

So far, Butler has stayed true to his word. He played 16 minutes in the Heat's preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets and 17 against the New Orleans Pelicans. The last time Jimmy played in the preseason was in 2022. He added that his playing in the preseason will go a long way in building chemistry with the team's other core members: Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, and Terry Rozier.

"Go out there and compete, hoop, get comfortable, get acclimated with these guys. I think everybody knows me, Tyler [Herro], Bam [Adebayo] and Terry [Rozier] haven't played a lot of minutes together. So this is the beginning of what everybody is going to see this upcoming season. So get as many as minutes, whether it's in practice or the preseason," the five-time All-NBA Team member concluded.

The Heat will go as far as Butler will take them. From the look of things, Jimmy is already pulling the wagon, helping it gain momentum with the regular season looming.

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