Could Jimmy Butler trade rumors be a viral coffee promotion?

Friday, Butler opened the first storefront for his artisan coffee company. The business venture started during the bubble in 2020, when players were sequestered in their hotels in Orlando during the pandemic. Butler made coffee drinks using the French press in his hotel room and charged $20 per drink, any size. Oh, and he only accepted cash.

It was an ingenious idea, based on the players' per diem of $1,020, given in envelopes with 10 hundreds and one $20 bill. If the players ran out of twenties, Butler could be getting $100 per drink. Plus, no IOUs, no change — good luck getting to an ATM during a lockdown.

What started as a joke became a full-fledged business. Butler traveled to coffee farms in Colombia to find beans to import, which he roasted and packaged under the Big Face label. He started doing coffee pop-ups around Miami, until opening a brick-and-mortar business this month.

That's why the timing of the trade reports are convenient. The trade deadline is still two months away, and players who signed deals this summer aren't even eligible to be traded yet. Butler "actually likes" trade talk, telling reporters, "I don't think there's such a thing as bad publicity."

Butler's been a master of publicity in the past. When he wanted a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, he returned to practice, dominated and yelled at his teammates then sat down for an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols immediately afterward. He also wore dreadlocks for the Heat's media day in 2022, then debuted a temporary "emo look" for 2023.

The trade rumors have continued to spiral, with Butler's agent, Bernie Lee, openly feuding with ESPN's Shams Charania about the reports of Butler seeking a trade. Meanwhile, Big Face Coffee got stellar reviews in a "New York Times" feature about celebrity coffee brands.

Butler might well welcome a trade in order to secure a contract extension, but he also might simply want people to write about him. Much like Big Face Coffee itself, Butler carries a high price tag, but delivers high-quality results — both on the court and in the media.