Heat star appears to indicate Suns officially have no chance of landing Jimmy Butler

The Jimmy Butler has become a long and drawn out affair, and it has also featured plenty of chatter about him forcing his way to the Phoenix Suns. Several reputable sources initially had Phoenix as one of his preferred destinations as he sought a way out of Miami and the Heat, before the Suns later become his top choice.

The mechanics of making that deal happen were always going to be incredibly difficult, and you can't blame the Heat for having no interest in taking Bradley Beal back either. Still, if you've been around this league long enough then you'll know that when a star wants to go to a new location, he generally gets his way. Second apron be damned.

Kevin Love has just brutally shut this conversation down with one move.

Love is currently teammates with Butler, and is no stranger to playing alongside superstars. If you're old enough then you'll also remember a time when Love himself was the star in the Minnesota with the Timberwolves, way before Anthony Edwards made the idea of being the man there cool. Safe to say then, that Love is both connected and knows what he is talking about.

Which made his Instagram post in Thursday in the wake of a rumored meeting between Butler and team owner Micky Arison all the more interesting. The metting itself wasn't the reason to pay attention - Butler is about to come back from a team enforced seven game suspension for trying to disrupt his way out of town - but Love's reaction when it was finished certainly was.

Even more unexpectedly, Butler liked the post. This is the strongest indication yet that a bridge has been mended, and that the 35-year-old is going to see out this season at least on South Beach. Beyond that is anybody's guess, but the Suns' best chance of adding Butler to Devin Booker and Kevin Durant just went up in smoke.

If Butler hits the open market Phoenix has zero chance of being able to sign him, while if an open bidding war for his services also happens they'll also quickly be ruled out. A very particular set of circumstances had to go right for The Valley to pull this one off, and the amazing thing is for a minute there it looked like it might actually happen.

But if Butler's friend and teammate is confident enough to go public in this kind of way, then you can bet Butler is going nowhere. Where does that leave the Suns then? Center Nick Richards was a nice get that the franchise desperately needed, but Butler would have moved the needle. Instead they now have to figure out how to make it work with Beal coming off the bench.

Results have been middling so far, but this is a disappointing blow. Many Suns fans had pinned their hopes on Butler being able to revive their faltering season, but that doesn't like it is going to be the case anymore. With the trade deadline open for a few more weeks yet the front office will have to work the phones hard to try and improve, but the best player they could have added is now gone.