Perhaps little says as much about the convoluted current relationship between Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat as this: The team has reached the end game of its seven-game unpaid suspension of the former All-Star forward with the situation nonetheless ongoing.

Jimmy Butler is expected to play for Miami again Friday when it hosts the Denver Nuggets, a game that would be his first since the Heat confirmed that he wants a trade and that they are trying to accommodate that request.

Tensions are high, but Butler can bolster his own market by playing well for Miami when his suspension ends after Wednesday's game in LA.