The Phoenix Suns have seen themselves linked with Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat in recent weeks, although it was unclear why exactly that was the case. Much as the idea of pairing him with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant sounds appealing in theory, there is no easy way to get a deal done.
Although technically not impossible - it would have to involve Bradley Beal waiving his no-trade clause on top of everything else - the feeling was that the Suns were just being used as leverage so the Heat could extract as much value from a trade with another organization.
The latest on Butler certainly helps the Suns' case moving forward.
The debate around the popularity of the league continues to swirl, and Shams Charania of ESPN dropping his latest info on Butler's future on Christmas Day did little to change that. On a day when LeBron James and Stephen Curry served up an entertaining meeting, Victor Wembanyama went off for 42 in Madison Square Garden and the Suns actually won a game, a lot of talk was about Butler.
Breaking: Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler prefers a trade out of Miami ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, league sources told @ShamsCharania. pic.twitter.com/GpAI2BM9rf
— ESPN (@espn) December 25, 2024
A growing theory by some has suggested that fans and media members alike prefer to talk about what happens off the court and which could impact the game on the court, as opposed to the games themselves. On a day that is widely regarded as the unofficial beginning of the NBA season, it was telling that Butler - whose team weren't even playing - got so much air time.
Back to the issue at hand though, and the fact Butler now prefers to be dealt before the deadline in early February is good news for the Suns. It puts the Heat firmly on the clock now to get a deal done - and the closer it inchs towards that deadline - the more desperate that franchise is going to get.
Desperate enough to consider Beal? It seems crazy - we've already said as much - but The Valley have pulled off some unexpected moves in recent seasons. Landing Beal was one of them, as well as Durant and even Chris Paul before that. If you're the Heat, is there a way you can talk yourself into the 31-year-old Beal?
He only has two years left on his current deal after this season - and while he's still owed a whopping $110 million - that is not long in the NBA. By this time next year he could even be viewed as an expiring deal, although the fact that any team at all could be interested in Beal right now is a minor miracle.
To be fair to him though, he did have 27 points in the Christmas Day win over the Denver Nuggets, and that was in the absence of Booker. Interestingly, the Heat also have a top two in Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro who might actually fit better next to Beal than Durant and Booker currently do.
The overlap between Booker and Beal's skill sets is painfully obvious, but next to Herro could be a different story. As one of the best bigs in the league, Adebayo is everything on both ends of the court right now that Suns' center Jusuf Nurkic is not. The two-man game between the two is intriguing, while defensively he could cover for Beal in ways that Nurkic most certainly cannot.
The Suns should still be viewed as outsiders to land Butler at this point, but the fact a deal is now likely to be done before the trade deadline suits them. If the Heat begin to panic - or if they're looking for a known name back in any deal - the prospect of doing a deal with the Suns becomes more appealing. Maybe The Valley will get one of those Christmas presents they asked for after all.