The Jimmy Butler saga continues as he seeks a trade from the Miami Heat.
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Whether that will happen or not is still unclear; however, that is not stopping certain teams, like the Phoenix Suns, from doing all they can to land the six-time All-Star.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, one league source says the Suns want Butler in Phoenix and vice versa.
"Phoenix wants Butler and Butler wants Phoenix — "I've heard they want him bad," one league source says of the Suns — but the obstacles preventing such a swap continue to be considerable.
Before Bradley Beal's obsessively discussed no-trade clause can even come into play, Miami and Phoenix need a third team willing to absorb Beal's monster contract to emerge.
"The Suns face similar challenges with the suddenly out-of-favor Jusuf Nurkić, who hasn't merely been moved to the bench like Beal — Nurkić has been outright DNP-CD'd for Phoenix's past two games. With Nurkić owed $19.4 million in 2025-26, generating a trade market for him has to this point proven scarcely easier than establishing one for Beal.
"The Suns have three tradeable second-round picks (in addition to a 2031 first-rounder) to try to convince a team like Charlotte to take on Nurkić's contract for a package headlined by in-demand Hornets big man Nick Richards ... but how many of those three picks would it cost them?"
One thing that is clear is that Butler is unhappy in Miami.
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On Friday, Butler posted a few videos on his Instagram stories that showed him working at his coffee shop, BIGFACE Miami. In one of those clips, Butler approached one of his baristas and patted him on the back after pouring a cup of coffee.
"See, I gave you a compliment," Butler said to the worker after patting him on the back.
"That's what bosses do.
"They build you up, they don't break you down."
The Heat announced last week that they suspended Butler for seven games for "multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team."
The suspension comes after reports regarding Butler's disappointments with his franchise and his previous statement that he didn't believe he could be happy in Miami.
The suspension is almost over, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Butler will come back. There is still a lot of bad blood between the two sides, and we may not see Butler on the court until he wears a new jersey.
Miami did confirm that Butler had requested a trade and that the team would listen to offers.
According to FOX Sports, the Suns are the favorites to land Butler with +175 odds.
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