The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler relationship might have reconciled enough to have the forward return to the court after his seven-game suspension, but not enough to change Butler's desire to get traded to a new franchise.
It seems Butler has his heart set on the Phoenix Suns, with the forward doing everything in his power to maneuver a move to Phoenix according to Brian Windhorst on 'The Hoop Collective' podcast.
“Jimmy's No. 1 focus is getting traded, preferably to the Phoenix Suns. Everything else is secondary. Not getting traded to Team X or Team Y, getting traded to the Phoenix Suns. Anything that you want to bring that's rational, if it doesn't mean getting traded to the Suns, Jimmy’s not going to be interested in it right now. That's one thing you've got to remember and that is the way he's operating.”
Butler's desire to join the Suns makes perfect sense when you see that the Suns have been the most aggressive team in the Butler trade saga so far. The team unfortunately has no space to accommodate Butler or the assets to acquire him right now. Unless they can move Bradley Beal to a team where he'll waive his no-trade clause, there's no way the Suns can acquire Butler.
Phoenix has made it clear that they'll be willing to offer Butler the maximum contract extension he's looking for, the same one that the Heat didn't offer him. Unfortunately, the Suns can't offer Butler that contract unless he's traded to them and they use his Bird rights to extend his contract.
Butler is averaging 17.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists this season. He has a $52.4 million player option for next season. If he stays on the Heat past the deadline, many expect Butler to opt in and then work with the Heat on getting traded to ensure he doesn't lose the rights on his contract.
Miami Heat Intensifying Trade Talks
Windhorst also revealed on the podcast that after Butler met with Heat owner Micky Arison, the team has significantly increased their activity on the trade market. Windhorst even stated that his source ended their phone call as multiple parties were deep into a potential multi-team trade negotiation for the Heat forward.
“I had a team on Friday call me and say, ‘Hey, this team is trying to dump some salary…' They all of a sudden had to end our phone call to go do something ‘bigger’… I speculate that it has to do with (Jimmy) Butler and not just a direct Butler trade, but 3 and 4-team trades.”
A multi-team trade for Butler does assume the fact that the Suns are involved, as they need multiple teams to somehow make this trade work. A third team might have agreed to take Beal on, but the Suns have to hope Beal accepts a trade to that franchise as well.
We are inching closer to a reality where Butler is on the Suns, although multiple steps still need to be taken to create the perfect scenario for this trade.
