The Miami Heat are trying to find a suitable trade for Jimmy Butler as the disgruntled star serves his seven-game suspension for “several instances of conduct detrimental to the team.” Behind the scenes, they are reportedly preparing for this saga to extend beyond the suspension (which is set to end next Friday) and possibly even through the trade deadline given the factors at play.
One factor, in particular, seems to be driving both the rift between Butler and the Heat and what ESPN’s Brian Windhorst called the “poo-poo platter” trade offers that are coming Miami’s way: Money. Butler is almost certainly going to decline his player option for next season in search of the longer-term deal that Miami refused to give him this past offseason.
Problem is, not many other teams are going to want to give him the kind of money, or years, he wants on his next deal as a 35-year-old star who may already be in decline and almost certainly will be by the end of this next contract.
On top of that, Butler isn’t going to sign an extension this summer with just any team, meaning even if a team was ready to get into the Butler business long term, it may not be a team that Butler is interested in extending with. That’s preventing teams from offering significant trade packages because they might only have Butler as a short-term rental. In turn, it’s softening the market for Butler considerably.
“We have a big problem here,” Windhorst said on First Take. “Jimmy Butler isn’t going to extend with [just] any team, and so because teams know that, they’re offering the Heat right now the poo-poo platter. There is only one team that is ready to pay Jimmy Butler exactly what he wants, and that is the Phoenix Suns. And you know why that’s fascinating? Because of the [28] other teams that are out there that could trade for Jimmy Butler, the team that [Butler wants to go to], which is Phoenix, is the team that has the hardest time trading for him.
“We’re at a genuine stalemate,” Windhorst concluded. “I don’t know how it’s going to play out. The Heat are preparing internally for this to last past suspension. Not because they’ve got some sort of sinister motive, but because they know what kind of offers they’ve gotten and they stink.”
In keeping with the theme that Butler isn’t going to re-sign with just any team, there is also a report from Chris Haynes that the Memphis Grizzlies are among a few teams who have “received word that Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has no interest in being traded there,” which is an effective warning to not make a trade for him because he won’t be staying long.
So, to recap, Butler wants to go to the Suns and the Suns want and will pay Butler, but the Heat don’t want anything the Suns have to offer in a trade (which would almost certainly include Bradley Beal) and Phoenix doesn’t have any money to sign Butler as a free agent this summer.
The Grizzlies, who do make a lot of sense on paper for both sides, have been told to stay away. Everyone knows the Butler market is soft, and as such Miami is fielding “poo-poo platter” offers, which is funny enough to mention twice. Obviously Miami isn’t going to make a trade for that kind of return. So, stay tuned. This could get uglier.
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