Jimmy Butler on ice with Heat has NBA warming to idea of trade, as De'Aaron Fox enters market

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Jan 29, 2025

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MIAMI — The countdown is about to move within a week of the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline when it comes to the Miami Heat’s next step with Jimmy Butler.

In other words, go-time.

For now, the veteran forward remains on unpaid team suspension through at least that deadline, for what the team cited earlier in the week as “a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services.”

In addition to again getting the disgruntled former All-Star away from the team, as has been the case with two previous suspensions, the latest suspension appears to have also moved the Heat and the rest of the league into a higher gear regarding possible relocation.

According to an NBA source familiar with the situation, multiple teams have been working on potential trade constructs that would work either in the moment or ahead of next Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline.

While indications until this latest suspension had been of a singular preferred landing spot of the Phoenix Suns by Butler, in part because of the belief the Suns would be willing to offer a maximum extension upon acquisition, several other trade partners at least now appear to be in the discussion.

Included in that group are the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies. In addition, a party familiar with the process said that several other teams appear willing to work as potential conduits, such as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors, with the Philadelphia 76ers also possibly part of such machinations.

New elements in the NBA’s collective-bargaining agreement have added additional layers to the process, including limitations on teams operating above the luxury-tax aprons.

The Heat, for example, as a team operating above the first apron of the luxury tax, are not able to take back a single dollar more than the salary sent out in such a deal.

That, alone, limits some of the trade math, with Butler earning $48.8 million this season.

Then there are teams such as the Suns and Bucks that are operating above the second luxury-tax apron.

Those teams are not allowed to aggregate players from their current rosters in trades, limited to sending out a single player in any deal, unless otherwise dropping below that second-apron threshold.

The expectation around the NBA is that only when the biggest of the trade questions around the league are answered will the rest of the league move into action.

Until this week, that had Butler considered the lead domino in the countdown to the deadline. That calculus has changed somewhat now, with the Sacramento Kings reportedly open to fielding offers for guard De’Aaron Fox.

While Fox would work as a fit for a Heat roster lacking a significant contribution at point guard since the declining play and then trade a year ago of Kyle Lowry, that math at the moment appears beyond the Heat’s means, unless Butler is part of such an equation.

That, however, would require active participation in such a deal by Butler, who holds dual hammers of either being able to move into free agency in July, making him a short-term rental for an acquiring team, or being able to invoke his $52.4 million player option for next season, which could otherwise clog the salary cap of an acquiring team.

Among possible trade wheels involving the Heat and Fox could be a four-team deal that gets Butler to the Suns, Fox to his preferred destination of San Antonio and Spurs pieces such as Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson and Chris Paul to the Heat. All of that, however, would come down to the no-trade clause of Phoenix guard Bradley Beal and his signing off on a potential move to Sacramento.

In their statement issued Monday, the Heat noted that Butler is suspended “for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games.”

That five-game clock included Monday night’s double-overtime victory over the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center, Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as upcoming road games on Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs, Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls, and next Wednesday against the 76ers, the Heat’s final game ahead of the trading deadline.