With mere days to go before the NBA trade deadline and sparks already flying, the Miami Heat have yet to settle on a deal for Jimmy Butler.
Two factors are the primary reason for the holdup: Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal’s ability to veto any trade, and Butler’s apparent unwillingness to play anywhere but Phoenix.
Because he is just one of two players in the league to own a no-trade clause in his contract (the other is LeBron James), Beal can dictate the terms of a trade. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Beal has “no desire to bless a trade pretty much anywhere and prefers to remain in Phoenix, where his family has been settling after finally leaving the nation's capital.”
Meanwhile, when talks with other teams like the Memphis Grizzlies or Golden State Warriors have gotten to a serious point, Butler has expressed to both organizations that he does not want to play for them. It’s unclear if either team has informed Butler if they would or would not offer him a contract extension.
So while the Heat canvas the league for a suitable trade, Beal and/or Butler have impeded their progress at seemingly every turn.
Could the Heat change their trade deadline target to Kevin Durant?
The Suns remain highly motivated to construct a deal for Butler, but that would require a third team to take Beal’s contract (and for Beal to accept a trade). According to multiple reports, Beal would only accept a trade to a contending team and/or playing in a warm-weather city.
There are only so many calls the Suns can make and evidently haven’t made much progress over the last few weeks and months. The Luka Doncic and De’Aaron Fox trades over the weekend involved six different teams and shook the league snowglobe. The Suns will make their calls again, seeing if anything shook loose in terms of finding a place for Beal.
There is growing speculation that the Suns could be open to trading somebody else besides Beal. According to Fischer and other reports, the Suns have received calls about Kevin Durant.
Phoenix, entering Monday's business, continued to signal that it does not plan to move Durant before the deadline, sources said, but the Suns are believed to be listening at the very least to various teams' pitches for the 35-year-old scoring legend. Durant, meanwhile, is said to be aware of all this.
It’s important to note that Durant is in a similar position as Fox was prior to his move from Sacramento. Durant is eligible for a contract extension this summer. The Suns are expected to offer Durant that extension. But if Durant declines, he could become a free agent in 2026.
If the Suns’ pursuit of a Beal trade fails and they believe Durant is growing restless, could they consider offers for Durant and revamp the roster around Beal and Devin Booker?
According to Fischer, the Suns would have a “very high asking price” for Durant that would include quality draft picks and young players.
The Heat’s best offer would seem to include Butler, their only tradeable first-round pick and a choice of young players like Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.
Pairing Durant with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro would be quite the way to turn the page on the Butler era, but it could cost much of what the Heat had hoped to build on.
Is a Durant-Adebayo-Herro-led team potentially lacking depth good enough to compete with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks over the next couple of years while Durant is still in his scoring prime?
Could Durant make like Fox and dictate his trade destination, thereby driving the ultimate price down? Durant has been open to a trade to Miami in the past and has a standing relationship with Adebayo from their time together on Team USA.
There’s a lot to consider this time of year. If the Doncic trade proved anything, it’s that nothing can be ruled out. The Heat want to move on from Butler. They have only a few days to figure it out.