The Phoenix Suns didn’t make Jimmy Butler’s list of teams he wants to play for, and that’s fine. The real problem is who did make the list.
Earlier this week, Jimmy Butler asked the Minnesota Timberwolves to trade him. He provided the team with a list of his three preferential destinations: the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets. The Phoenix Suns were not on the list.
In a vacuum, it’s fine that the Suns didn’t make Butler’s list. After all, there are a lot of reasons Butler wouldn’t be a good fit. At 29, he’s way older than the team’s budding stars in Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker, who are 20 and 21 respectively. Not to mention the Suns would have to trade pretty much everyone else to get Butler.
No, the issue with Butler isn’t that he doesn’t particularly want to play in Phoenix. It’s that he really only wants to play in Los Angeles or New York. There’s a pattern developing.
This summer, LeBron James joined the Los Angeles Lakers despite them being a clearly less than optimal basketball fit. He reportedly had been set on going to LA for a long time, even though he isn’t from there.
Kawhi Leonard didn’t just request a trade out of San Antonio, he requested a trade specifically to the Lakers. Paul George admitted recently that he had wanted the Pacers to trade him to the Lakers too. Ultimately, both ended up elsewhere. But it’s pretty clear stars want to go to LA.
Even Kevin Durant has been rumored to have interest in joining LeBron in LA next summer in what would be arguably the greatest duo of all time.
Kyrie Irving, a likely free agent target for the Phoenix Suns, reportedly wants to play for the New York Knicks next season. The Knicks and the Nets both have a history of drawing top players when their teams are at least half decent.
The Suns don’t need Jimmy Butler, but his list is a sign of an unfortunate reality: stars are caring less about rosters and more about playing in New York or Los Angeles.
Phoenix is a big city with warm weather, and with a young team on the rise it could become a hotspot for free agents someday. But today’s stars all seem to have the same destinations in mind, and for now that doesn’t include Phoenix.