The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler are going to go their separate ways soon, as the player has made it clear he has no interest in playing for the Heat again. His relationship with Heat President Pat Riley has broken down, as he serves a seven-game suspension while the Heat look for possible trade partners to offload Butler.
The Heat are 20-18 this season, keeping their heads afloat without Butler on the court. It seems moving off Jimmy is the best way to maintain harmony in the squad, as Butler’s presence has reportedly been hurting the team which is why he was suspended.
He’s averaging 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in a down year and is making $48.7 million this season with a $52.4 million player option on his contract this summer.
Let’s take a look at everything that’s happening in this trade saga and potential destinations that could lead to an end.
Miami Heat And Jimmy Butler Are Done With Each Other
The breakdown of the relationship between Butler and the Heat might seem sudden but has been a long time coming. The foundation of this has been Butler’s dissatisfaction with the team not offering him a max contract extension while also not working to improve the roster around him. He believes he deserves the money due to the two Finals runs he’s led them on and because those runs proved he deserved a star running-mate which the Heat failed to acquire.
The Heat’s reasons for not committing to Butler seem to stem from Butler’s shoddy availability over recent seasons. This was outlined in Pat Riley’s 10-page letter to the NBPA justifying Butler’s suspension for a myriad of reasons – with his unavailability cited and referenced. The breaking point came when Riley let his grievances out to the media in the summer by attacking Butler for mocking Playoff opponents while being ruled out.
Butler has made his trade request directly to Riley in a one-on-one meeting, so it doesn’t look like there’s a path for recourse. With a weak free agency incoming, Butler might be forced to opt in to his player option as the team finalizes a trade in the summer. Miami doesn’t want to settle for scraps with a mid-season trade, and Butler has been warned that his saga might stretch into the offseason.
Teams Are Lining Up, But Some Teams Have Been Warned
Given how toxic the situation between Butler and the Heat has gotten, it’s in everyone’s best interests to find a new destination ASAP. But player and team demands are getting in the way of expediting the move.
The Miami Heat reportedly have multiple offers on the table for Butler right now, but they’re unwilling to accept them due to the poor value they’re getting back. This validates an older Brian Windhorst report which said that the existing offers for Butler ‘stink,’ which is why the Heat are being a lot slower with their trade negotiations regarding the malevolent star.
It also seems that Butler intends to use his leverage as an impending free agent to ward off teams he doesn’t want to extend his contract with. Teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, and Denver Nuggets have reportedly been ruled out by Butler’s camp. If he rules them out, they really have no incentive to match Miami’s asking price for a half-year rental.
The list of teams that Butler will be willing to join hasn’t been publicly confirmed, but teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors are expected to be teams he wants to join. There’s no path to a reasonable trade with the Mavericks while both the Rockets and Warriors are reportedly uninterested in getting a deal done.
That leaves one destination for Butler who he wants to join and it’s a destination that might want him just as bad.
The Phoenix Suns Are The Most Aggressive Team
The Phoenix Suns are pulling out all the stops in their pursuit of Jimmy Butler. The 19-20 franchise is desperate to shake things up and inject winning energy into the team after what is turning out to be a horrible season. They have multiple players on the trade block already, but the future of Butler on the Suns goes through one man – Bradley Beal.
Any potential Butler deal will need to include Beal’s approval, as his no-trade clause allows him to veto any trade he’s included in. There’s no way of making the salaries fit if Beal doesn’t agree to move his supermax contract elsewhere. A team he’d be open to joining is the team Butler is on right now, but the Heat have no interest in acquiring Beal, necessitating the requirement of a third team to accept Beal and send assets to Miami.
The Suns have no tradeable first-round picks and a handful of second-round picks, so moving off a long-term supermax contract with a no-trade clause is proving to be impossible. Regardless, they’re holding out for a miracle as they’ve already made their intention of re-signing Butler to a max contract clear. Butler knows he has a future in Phoenix, but it won’t be possible without both the Heat and Beal cooperating.
Unless a surprise team pops up in the Butler sweepstakes, the Suns will be the most linked destination given how aggressively they’ve been pursuing him. Nonetheless, nothing happens without the Heat actually trading him mid-season. It seems they’re open to holding Butler out until the summer when there is more flexibility in receiving players and assets without the draconian apron restrictions most teams are under.
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