Three-Team Deal With $23 Million Guard May be Key to Jimmy Butler Phoenix Trade

The turmoil surrounding the Miami Heat’s season only got worse on Monday when the team’s $136 million six-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler was hit with a suspension by the team – for the third time this month. The reason given by the team for Butler’s latest suspension was “intentionally withholding services.” That referred to an incident Monday when Butler walked out of a team shootaround as the Heat prepared for that evening’s game against the Orlando Magic. The team called the length of the suspension “indefinite.”

Miami won the game without Butler, storming back from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to take the contest into double overtime where it finished with a score of 125-119.

The Heat have now won 10 of the 20 games played without Butler this season. With him, they haven’t been significantly better, winning 13 and losing 12. Miami’s overall 23-22 record was good enough for sixth place, representing the final guaranteed playoff spot, in the Eastern Conference as of Tuesday morning.

Butler’s Feud With Heat Brass Not Going Away

Butler has played for the Heat since the 2020 season when he was traded to Miami by the Philadelphia 76ers as part of a complex, four-team deal. He was instrumental in leading the Heat to the NBA Finals in the 2020 COVID “bubble” season, and again in 2023. But Miami lost both times, to the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets respectively.

This season, however, Butler has been locked in a feud with Heat management. Earlier in January he demanded a trade and the team has been attempting to accommodate him ever since. Now, according to NBA insider journalist Michael Scotto of USA Today HoopsHype, a deal to move Butler may need to be a three-team proposition and a key piece may need to be Toronto Raptors veteran guard Bruce Brown.

Brown is in his seventh year, and Toronto is his fourth team. In July, 2023, Brown signed a two-year, $45 million contract with the Indiana Pacers, who then traded him at the midseason deadline to Toronto.

“Brown is a candidate to be involved in a potential blockbuster multi-team trade involving Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler due to his expiring $23 million contract, with Toronto actively trying to participate as a facilitator,” Scotto wrote on Tuesday.

Miami May be Interested in Acquiring Bruce Brown

Brown could be used to help get Butler to what appears to be his preferred destination, Phoenix, where he would join future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and four-time All-Star guard Devin Booker on the Suns. Miami has reportedly expressed interest in replacing a departing Butler with Brown.

“Brown’s contract would fit what the Heat are looking for, as he is playing on a $23 million expiring contract this season,” according to Adam Wells of Bleacher Report. “It would also seem unlikely he finishes this season in Toronto given where the Raptors are at in the standings and focused on a long-term rebuild.”

Wells also noted that with the Heat continuing to aim for their sixth-straight playoff berth, even without Butler, “a player like Brown could help them achieve that goal.”

Brown, however, is averaging 9.1 points per game for Toronto this season, his lowest since the 2021-2022 season when he was playing for the Brooklyn Nets.