Suns' fierce rivals rumored to be open to helping them land Jimmy Butler

The Phoenix Suns recently got their center for the rest of the season in Nick Richards, and he looks like he is going to hit the ground running in The Valley. Although he may not start for the franchise right away, he's already playing the most minutes of any big in the rotation, and has had a positive impact.

That looks to be the only deal the Suns are going to complete between now and the trade deadline, although rumors persist about the possibility of adding Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat. This "will he, won't he" circus has gone on long enough, and we do not need to recap it all here. Butler is now back playing with the Heat, with his own teammates indicating he is going nowhere.

But the Minnesota Timberwolves could yet have a say in all of this.

In a turn of events that would not be believed if they were put together by professional script writers themselves, one of the teams Butler successfully forced his way out of - just as he has tried to do in Miami - may hold the key to him escaping to Phoenix after all. That's because a third team getting involved to engineer a deal has emerged as the only real way to get this one done.

The Suns are in the second apron and the Heat rightly don't want Bradley Beal and the $110 million he is owed across the next two seasons. Beal also has a no-trade clause, but there is no point even getting into all of that here. According to Marc Stein on his always invaluable Stein Line substack, the Timberwolves have emerged as an organization who would help get this deal done.

They'd obviously want something good in return - they've gone sideways since dealing away Karl-Anthony Towns and need to right the ship - but this represents another actual way for Butler to get to The Valley. There are other teams rumored to be up for acting as a facilitator here - the Toronto Raptors being one of them - but it is the Timberwolves who intrigue the most.

It wasn't that long ago that they beat the Suns in the postseason so badly that head coach Frank Vogel was fired and many were in favor of ending this experiment of Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. To then try and help the very rival they swept last season get better sure is something, but it also speaks to the state of the nation in Minnesota right now as well.

Looking at it more cautiously though, and perhaps the Timberwolves know that Butler will eventually overstay his welcome in Phoenix, just like he did with them in the past. His eventual move to the Philadelphia 76ers is the stuff of legend - teaming up with the bench players to beat the starters of the Timberwolves before bouncing - and that chaotic energy can upend a team from the inside.

Perhaps the Timberwolves believe that in trying to get Butler to the Suns, they'll actually be torpedoing both player and rival franchise while Anthony Edwards and his buddies get back on track. To get some picks or a young player with upside to insert into their rotation would be even better, and it would be among the smartest moves ever made by a front office.

Really though that may be giving them more credit than they deserve. You need to have a short memory in this league, and the Timberwolves have bigger problems than what the Suns are trying to achieve right now. If they can get some stuff to send a 35-year-old to the desert, then it makes sense to get involved. Even if the irony of the player and team involved is too much.