Jimmy Butler returns, says of Heat drama — ‘We are where we are’

MIAMI — After playing for the first time in two weeks following his seven-game suspension from the Miami Heat, forward Jimmy Butler said Friday night that he and the franchise “are where we are” when it comes to their relationship less than three weeks before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

“I guess it’s basketball at this point,” Butler said after scoring 18 points in 33 minutes in a 133-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Kasaya Center. “I know what I’m expected to do while I’m here and try to do that to the best of my ability, but we are where we are.”

The two sides remain basically in the same situation they were before Butler was suspended a couple of weeks ago: with the star forward looking for a trade away from the shores of Biscayne Bay, and the Heat still unable to find an acceptable deal.

So with Butler’s suspension having ended, he was back in uniform and in the starting lineup Friday night, having arrived at the arena for the team’s late afternoon walkthrough. He went 7-for-15 from the field and had three rebounds, two assists and a turnover.

“[Got to] get him back acclimated,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of Butler’s return. “I mean, we know what Jimmy’s capable of, so it’s no shock that he found his rhythm at some point, and going forward, I feel like he’s going to continue to find his rhythm and we’ll keep trying to win games.”

In Friday’s game, Butler looked far from the force that has driven the Heat to the conference finals three times and the NBA Finals twice across the past five-plus seasons. His average touch length was 2.75 seconds, according to Second Spectrum — his lowest in any game as a member of the Heat — and he averaged 1.6 dribbles per touch, which was his second-lowest total of the season.

When asked about Butler’s effort level after the game, however, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra turned the question around to Miami’s poor defense against the Nuggets and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said when asked if Butler needs to be more involved offensively. “We haven’t seen him obviously in a couple of weeks. He hasn’t played a lot of games, so that is likely part of this.

“I know what storylines you’re looking for. I’m not feeding into any of that tonight. We got our asses kicked. I know what you want to talk about. I know what I saw out there. From a defensive standpoint, it was not good enough, and that’s three straight games now. We found our identity of how…