NBA Exec: Jimmy Butler Is '35 and Doesn't Have Much Value' amid Heat Trade Rumors

NBA Exec: Jimmy Butler Is ’35 and Doesn’t Have Much Value’ amid Heat Trade Rumors

Posted by Admin January 12, 2025 NBA

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While the Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games and said they are open to trade offers, an actual move seems like anything but a guarantee at this point.

“It’s more difficult than people think,” one team’s head of basketball operations said in a Saturday piece by Steve Bulpett of Heavy. “First of all, Jimmy’s 35 and doesn’t have much value. And then the team that would like him the most is probably Phoenix, because they’re so bad and they have the worst contract in (Bradley) Beal. Other than that, I don’t know of any teams that would want to take on Jimmy Butler, other than teams that just want to dump contracts—and Miami won’t go for that. I just don’t know how it’s going to work.”

That is not the first time the Phoenix Suns have been mentioned with NBA insider Jake Fischer reporting Wednesday every NBA team official he spoke to believes they are the team Butler wants to join.

NBA insider Marc Stein also called the Suns “the team most interested in trading for Butler” and pointed out they would be willing to give him a contract extension.

However, Stein also said Phoenix would likely need a third team willing to take on Beal’s contract that is set to pay him $53.7 million next season with a $57.1 million player option for 2026-27.

That likely isn’t intriguing to many teams.

What’s more, it’s not as if Miami has a ton of leverage openly admitting it is willing to trade Butler after suspending him. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported the offers the Heat have received “stink,” suggesting there isn’t an imminent trade on the horizon:

First Take @FirstTake

“Jimmy Butler isn’t going to extend with any team. And so, because teams know that, they’re offering the Heat right now the poo-poo platter. There’s only one team that is ready to pay Jimmy Butler exactly what he wants, and that’s the Phoenix Suns.”
—@WindhorstESPN pic.twitter.com/q8LZLPOFOV

For his part, Butler didn’t seem thrilled about the possibility of remaining with the Heat when he said he probably won’t find his joy on the basketball court by staying put:

The entire situation adds up to a player who appears to want out, a team that would be willing to trade him and very little leverage.

That Butler is 35 years old also makes a trade all the more difficult, as any team acquiring him would need to believe he can still be a peak producer in the most important moments even at this stage of his career.

Given all that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him remain with the Heat for the rest of the season.