The Phoenix Suns are one of the teams Jimmy Butler would be open to play for if he were traded by the Miami Heat, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, took to X on Wednesday night to dispute Charania’s reporting. Charania doubled down Thursday morning, saying he stands “1,000%” with his report.
Whatever the case, it’s almost meaningless. Because a trade that sends Butler to Phoenix doesn’t make any sense.
The Heat would be better off letting Butler walk away for nothing than trading him to Phoenix.
At the risk of boring you with the new salary cap mumbo-jumbo, the Suns are above the second tax apron, meaning they can’t aggregate salaries or bring back more money in a deal. The Heat, above the first apron, can’t take back more money but can aggregate salaries.
That means that to acquire Butler, the Suns would have to send back a player making more than Butler’s $48.7 million. That could be either one of Kevin Durant ($51.1 million), Bradley Beal ($50.2 million) or Devin Booker ($49.2 million).
It’s hard to believe that the Suns would trade Durant or Booker for a 35-year-old Butler, who has the option to enter free agency next summer.
That leaves Beal. He’s downshifted in a new phase of his career, is making more money than Butler, and is owed more than $160 million over the next three years. He also has a no-trade clause, which he would presumably waive to join Miami, which he admitted was his preferred destination before he was traded to Phoenix before last season.
To make the money work, the Heat could send Butler and Josh Richardson to Phoenix for Beal.
But why would the Heat do that?
Beal is no longer the player who could carry an offense and average 30 points per game. He’s scoring 17.8 points on 49.3% shooting in a supporting role this season. Both marks are lower than Butler’s 19 points on 55.7% shooting. He also doesn’t offer the same playmaking or defensive punch. Why am I even explaining this?
The Heat are open to listening to trade offers for Butler because they are currently at risk of losing him for nothing. It’s what any smart front office would do. That doesn’t mean they will trade him, and certainly not for just anything.
But if the only offer on the table were Beal, the Heat would be better off letting Butler walk away for nothing.
In this new Apron World, the Heat can’t afford to put another player on a bloated salary on their cap sheet. Adding Beal to this group would put the Heat in a similar but worse position than they are in now – a mediocre team without any real way of significantly improving the roster for multiple years.
Clear Butler’s salary from the books without bringing anything back, and the Heat will fall below the luxury tax and create real cap space, opening up tons of team-building options.
Of course, the decision won’t be binary. The Heat will presumably have other trade offers now and in the offseason, and they could still potentially work out a new deal with Butler.
But if the choice is between Beal or nothing, the answer is clearly nothing.