Jimmy Butler feels he "grew in every aspect of the game" this season and is convinced the Miami Heat are "trending in the right direction" despite suffering NBA Finals heartbreak.

A 106-93 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers in Sunday's Game 6 in Orlando meant the Heat fell to a 4-2 series loss.

Butler's heroics had helped the Heat get to this stage and he averaged 26.2 points, 9.8 assists and 8.3 rebounds throughout the Finals.

Asked what he learnt about himself, Butler replied: "That I'm a decent player. I think that I grew in every aspect of the game.

"So, I can smile about that. More than anything, I've learned that here, me works. Here, I'm always, always, always, always going to believe in my guys.

"I think the one thing that I learned more than anything is how fun it is to play with these guys. It really was fun watching all my young fellas grow, having vets come in and showcase what they can still do and teach me so much. It was a great time."

While hurting from the loss, Butler is convinced this is just the beginning of something special for the Heat.

He added: "We're trending in the right direction. We're going to learn from this. We're going to get better. We're going to come back. We're going to come back. We'll be back. That's what we're all saying in that locker room.

"We got guys that want to do it. We got guys that already want to get back in the gym and get to working at this thing. That's what we do here.

"Like I said, it was a pleasure to play with these guys. We're definitely moving in the right direction."

Butler finally seems to have a settled home in Miami having had short stints at the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers after ending a six-year stay at the Chicago Bulls in 2017.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra believes both team and player have benefitted from one another.

"I think that's what we're all looking for is to be part of a family," he said.

"To be a part of something where you felt all along that you were searching for something. Where you can just be yourself, you don't have to make any apologies for who you are. We have been searching for him for a long time and I think he's been searching for something like us for a while.

"Again, you're in this business to be around amazing people and to develop incredible relationships.

"It is about the game, it is about winning, but it also is about being around locker rooms that you'll remember for a long, long time. I'm just thrilled to be able to have an opportunity to coach Jimmy and have a relationship with him and move forward chasing this dream. It's not going to stop.

"We're all wired the same. So, we'll get over this at some point. I don't expect anybody to get over it tonight.

"But we have some brothers in arms now moving forward that we share the same values and the same goals and that's part of the battle of just finding that kind of alignment."