Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, aggressively took issue with ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania this week for posting that he told him the Phoenix Suns are on his client’s radar as a possible trade destination.
“If you don’t stop putting my name on your complete and utter (expletive) because you know you normally aren’t worth my time to acknowledge,” Lee said on X, commenting on Charania’s post about Butler being open to the Suns.
As intense as Lee’s reaction comes off, there’s still a matter of Butler’s future and whether his NBA career continues in Miami or relocates to Dallas, Houston or Golden State, the initial teams Charania reported, in Phoenix or elsewhere.
Butler’s “who knows?” response to being asked this week about his “long-term” future suggests it’s wide open.
However, there is a path for Butler to land in Phoenix that starts with Bradley Beal.
First, Beal has a no-trade clause. So he’d have to agree to the trade.
After that, it becomes rather simple.
Despite being over the second tax apron, the Suns could trade Beal for Butler and a player on a veteran minimum contract even if it brought back more money on the deal.
The key is having a veteran minimum player in the deal. Any team can take on a minimum salary player in trade in what is called the minimum salary exception.
Butler is due $48.7 million this season while Beal is due $50.2 million. So the Heat could throw in say Josh Richardson, who is due $3,051,153 this season on a vet minimum contract, and make the deal work.
Miami, which is over the first tax apron, but below the second, would need to send out more money. Teams in this situation can still aggregate (or combine) contracts to take a single contract as long as the team stays under the second tax apron.
In this case, Miami would remain under the second tax apron.
The Suns also have a roster spot available to bring in an additional player in the trade.
Beal’s contract is largely why this move is worth conversation, but Butler’s contract makes it even more intriguing.
Butler, 35, has a player option of $52.4 million next season. He could decline it and become a free agent.
The six-time All-Star would be eligible for a four-year max contract with Miami for a projected $243 million or a three-year max deal at $171 million elsewhere.
So Butler in Phoenix could in essence be a rental, which falls right in line with Phoenix’s win-now mentality.
Remember, the Raptors acquired Kawhi Leonard in a trade with the Spurs, had him for just the 2018-19 season, but came out of it with their first and only NBA championship.
However, Beal has that no-trade clause. So he’d have to waive that in order for any deal to go down.
Considering the three-time All-Star made the move after 11 seasons in Washington to join Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to compete for a championship, leaving that situation in just his second year in Phoenix would turn heads.
The Suns are 8-2 when their Big 3 are on the court together, showing how good they can be. Beal’s ability to attack the paint and stretch the floor with his outside shooting gives the Suns offensive balance.
He’s embraced the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s better offensive perimeter players.
However, Butler is a better fit for Phoenix at small forward than Beal in terms of size. Beal is listed at 6-4, 207 pounds while Butler stands 6-7 and weighs 230. He’s a better rebounder than Beal and can serve as a playmaker.
Defensively, just being able to guard bigger wings is an attribute for Butler. Plus he’s led the Heat to the NBA Finals twice. That type of experience can only help a team looking to win a championship.
As far as Beal in Miami, he’s in the middle of a five-year, $251-million deal. The Heat would have to take that on, but he could be a serious third option to Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.
In turn, that’d relieve Phoenix of Beal’s huge contract that’s contributed to the Suns being over the second tax apron.
Butler reportedly hasn’t requested a trade. Beal seems fine in Phoenix, but if the Suns and Heat sit down at the negotiation table to discuss a trade, it’ll likely start with those two players.
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