The Jimmy Butler trade drama is holding up the entire market ahead of the trade deadline, as teams wait and see what happens to the disgruntled Miami Heat forward angling to join a new team. The Heat haven't been intimidated by Butler's disruptive actions but are actively hurting their season by dragging this out, with the tensions being felt within the locker room even when Butler isn't there.
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The Heat are expected to be aggressively looking for Butler trades but have been faced with a quiet market being led by the Phoenix Suns. Miami isn't interested in what Phoenix has to offer, so they continue to keep Butler on the roster and hope the situation works out better for them before the February 6 deadline, where they might end up ruining their season by not dealing Butler.
Let's take a look at the latest updates in this saga and if we're any closer to a Butler trade being agreed upon.
Jimmy Butler Suspended Again
The latest complication in the Jimmy Butler trade saga came when the Heat decided to suspend Butler for being late to a team flight ahead of their two-game road trip against the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets. They lost comprehensively to the Bucks and face the Nets later today. Butler is away from the team in Miami right now as trade talks to move off him intensify.
Butler has lost over $3 million in salary due to his total of nine suspended games this season, serving a seven-game suspension earlier this month. It seems the Heat will continue suspending Butler if they find any reason to, as the team is not happy about having to pay his salary while he clearly chooses not to give 100% effort for them.
Even after productive talks with Heat owner Mickey Arison, it seems there's no route to reconciliation between the parties. Butler will likely be traded this winter, as the team really can't focus on a Playoff push with this malevolent presence in their locker room.
Bradley Beal Complication
The Phoenix Suns being the most interested team in Butler is well-known, with the team willing to hand him a contract extension and play as the third star behind Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. However, they need to find a way to move Bradley Beal to a third team to land Butler, as the Heat have no interest in taking back Beal's contract with a no-trade clause. The NTC complicates things, as teams are less willing to acquire him and it allows him unilateral ability to stop teams from trading him away.
The Milwaukee Bucks had emerged as a potential home for Beal, moving off the likes of Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis to land a draft asset alongside Beal to help them win now. These rumors have already died down with many reporting that the Bucks have no interest in acquiring Beal at the moment.
"Contrary to popular belief, I was just informed that the Milwaukee Bucks have not inquired about Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal. In fact, I was told that a connection between the parties was non-existent. If Phoenix is able to acquire Jimmy Butler, it won't be coming via the Milwaukee Bucks taking on the star guard (Beal)."
We're back at square one right now, with no obvious team emerging as a Beal destination.
If the Suns had clarity on what they could get for Beal to send to the Heat, they likely already would have acquired Butler via trade. Unfortunately, this is a major issue that is holding up any movement on this front.
A potential multi-team trade is also going to slow the trade market down, with teams looking to make moves within the framework of a Beal-Butler trade to maximize assets by facilitating a challenging trade.
Memphis Grizzlies Could Steal Jimmy Butler
The Memphis Grizzlies are a dark horse in the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes. Butler was reported to be not interested in suiting up for the Grizzlies earlier before a recent ESPN report suggesting that Butler wants to play anywhere but Memphis. This is likely because the Grizzlies actually want Butler, which goes against his expected desire to join the Suns.
Brian Windhorst revealed that the Grizzlies are staying around talks to add Butler, as they're not worried about Butler leaving in free agency as they can use the extra space to extend Jaren Jackson Jr. to a new contract.
"The Grizzlies are lurking in Butler trade talks, sources said, and have been in contact with the Heat during the process. Rival league executives believe Memphis is trying to combine a talent influx with offloading some future salary so it can facilitate a contract extension for Jaren Jackson Jr. as early as this summer. Butler, meanwhile, has made it known that he could opt out of his contract this summer and seek free agency. Sources have theorized that if the Grizzlies can acquire him for a playoff run and also free cap space this summer, that's where their interests might lie."
This would go against what Butler would want because if the Grizzlies aren't interested in extending him, he would have to be a free agent in a year with very few teams having the space to go after major stars like Jimmy.
With the Grizzlies eyeing a win-now short-term move for this season, Butler would fit perfectly into their plans. but if the Heat forward remains against the idea of playing for them, there's little incentive for the Grizzlies to make this deal a reality.
