Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat kicked off 2025 in the NBA with a bang on Thursday, by publically saying that he is unlikely to find happiness on a basketball court again while he's with that franchise. The kind of comments that had all of social media talking, with his days on South Beach seemingly about to come to an end.
Shams Charania of ESPN was quick to follow up on Butler's comments - indicating that at this stage of proceedings - Butler is willing to be traded anywhere else in the league if it means he gets to escape his current situation. Quite a climbdown from his initial request that he be traded to one of only a few destinations, with the Phoenix Suns being one of those teams.
These remarks have now ended any hope the Suns had of landing Butler.
The chances of Butler ever landing in The Valley were slim anyway, but there was still a slight chance when everything was more civil between Miami and their current star player. There was one train of thought that said that the organization might do right by a player who led them to a pair of NBA Finals, and trade him to his most preferred destination.
Given that the Suns were on that list, they were in theory in with a shout. They also had a player in Bradley Beal who - from a salary standpoint at least - allowed a potential deal to go through. Another minimum contract would have had to go from Miami to a third team, but that didn't appear to be a signficant stumbling block.
ESPN story with @WindhorstESPN: Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat that he wants the team to trade him and is open to playing anywhere other than Miami.https://t.co/6BovsL2qdi
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 3, 2025
Neither did the fact the Suns are in the second apron, although Beal's no-trade clause sure was an issue. Then again - given how badly things are going in Phoenix right now - the prospect of escaping to Miami could have appealed to the 31-year-old. There are far less desireable locations to get paid $110 million over the next two seasons to play basketball.
But with Butler having gone public the way he now has - and with Charania quick to back that up with sources of his own - the market for Butler has now expanded way beyond what the Suns could afford to pay. Obviously if they made one of Devin Booker or Kevin Durant available that would be a different story, but that is not going to happen.
Instead the Suns will now have to watch as an organization that has cap space, draft picks and young players - everything they do not have - swoops in and trades for Butler. The Houston Rockets are one such example, and that would represent a massive problem in The Valley. At this point the Suns aren't even as good as the Memphis Grizzlies, and you could make a case this version of the Rockets either.
If they landed Butler - or another up-and-coming group like the San Antonio Spurs - then it really would be curtains for this experiment. As it is they're on life support anyway, but if he could stay in the Eastern Conference then that would suit them all the better. The bottom line though is that Butler's own words pushed them out of the running for his services, and that hurts.
Troubling as it may have been to pin all their hopes on a 35-year-old, there is no doubt the fit next to Booker and Durant would have been a lot better. If the Heat had panicked and taken Beal off their hands as well, then the Suns could have really dragged themselves out of their current predicament. Instead they're going to have to watch as a direct rival likely lands him instead.