The Celtics beat the Heat 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs last season when Jimmy Butler was injured, but got upset by them 4-3 in the 2023 conference finals. Boston also defeated Miami 4-3 in the '22 conference finals after losing 4-2 to the storied franchise in the '20 conference finals.

Before the Miami Heat finally made the move to trade Jimmy Butler, the six-time All-Star decided he wanted out because he felt his value wasn't being appreciated. Per Andscape's Marc J. Spears, Butler's desire to be dealt stemmed from a feeling that the Heat "were moving in a direction without him in mind and he wanted to be more valued" at this point in his career.