The Phoenix Suns continue to be linked with a move for Jimmy Butler ahead of the February trade deadline, with the saga taking another turn on Christmas Day. Shams Charania of ESPN going so far as to say that the Suns and Golden State Warriors had emerged as the top two preferred destinations for Butler to land.
You would be forgiven for continuing to think that Phoenix is being used here to push up the price for other potential bidders, and yet it is their name which is being brought up more than any other at this point. The continued chatter forcing Heat President Pat Riley to publically comment on the situation.
This shouldn't deter the Suns if they're serious about landing Butler.
The reason for this is obvious, and it is because we have seen countless time in the past a team come out and say they're not moving a player, only for a deal to later get done anyway. Ever since LeBron James made his decision back in 2010 - signalling the new player empowerment era in the NBA - it is scenario that has played out countless times.
Statement from Pat Riley
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 26, 2024
"We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear - We are not trading Jimmy Butler."
If anything, coming out and publically saying a player will not be traded is one of the checkpoints in this long, drawn-out affairs, that ends with the player getting their wish. The roadblocks to the Suns acquiring the 35-year-old Butler are obvious, but they have as much to do with what is happening in The Valley than anywhere else.
Bradley Beal has a no-trade clause, and at 31-years-old and with $110 million remaining on his current deal after this season, rightly has little value around the league. When he's healthy he remains a very good player, it is just that he has failed to have the kind of consistency the Suns envisioned when they traded for him.
If he were to waive that no-trade clause - and really you could do worse than play basketball in South Beach - then that would be a different story. But until that happens, and then assuming Butler can force the Heat's hand on this, a trade is not going to get done. Riley can also look to the Utah Jazz for inspiration as well, as they are one of the few franchises who blew things up on their terms.
They got a monster haul for Rudy Gobert to send him to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but it was the Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers move that few saw coming. Mitchell didn't seem to have any interest in going there, and yet after being sent to Cleveland he ended up extending his stay there back in July.
Butler is not Gobert or Mitchell, but Utah didn't bend to the desires of their two star players. It was long believed that Mitchell wanted to land with the New York Knicks, but that didn't happen and he found a long-term home elsewhere in the Eastern Conference. If Riley and the Heat are going to lose Butler, they will surely want it to be on their terms.
There is a potential happy ending for the Suns here though, and that could be if Miami decides they have to do right by Butler. He led them to two NBA Finals and three Eastern Conference Finals, and in this league if you have a reputation for looking after star players, that is remembered by other players and agents down the road. If Jimmy wants Phoenix, Riley saying he won't be traded means nothing.