It is no secret that Jimmy Butler wants to be traded. He reportedly told Miami Heat president and minority governor as much, to his face, in a meeting last week, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, and also said he wouldn’t sign a new deal with the team.

While he awaits any possible move, however, he is currently serving a seven-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, which ends on Thursday. He’s expected to play for the team once that suspension lifts.

“l’m told [Butler] is fully prepared to return to play for the Heat if he is not moved by the time his suspension is lifted,” NBA insider Chris Haynes said Tuesday during an appearance on The Dan LeBatard Show (5:00 mark).

He added that the Heat have “made it know that they’re entertaining offers. As I can tell from the people I’ve spoken to around the league, the Heat aren’t anywhere close to a Butler trade.”

Charania added that the Heat “have engaged with multiple teams on Butler trade scenarios and have received offers but have been hesitant to negotiate further,” and previously reported that the veteran forward desires a move to either the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks or Houston Rockets.

The simple answer is that the only team that currently projects to have the cap space to make him a max offer this summer is the Brooklyn Nets, with players like Ben Simmons, Bojan Bogdanovic, D’Angelo Russell and De’Anthony Melton set to come off the books.

So—assuming the Nets aren’t a desired landing spot—Butler would need a sign-and-trade agreement to move on, though that would require the Heat to play ball (and such deals can get complicated and restrictive, as they trigger the hard cap for the acquiring team). By opting into his deal, however, he would lock in a huge one-year salary and could be moved in a traditional trade.

Again, the Heat would be required to play ball and could make things complicated if they so desired. If the showdown reaches that stage, however, both sides would be best served cutting ties. It’s not terribly dissimilar to the approach James Harden took with the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of the 2023-24 season, when his own free agent market wasn’t expected to be vibrant, though Philly ultimately didn’t trade him until early in the season.

With Butler making waves already, it’s far less likely that the Heat would let the situation fester beyond the summer unless there was a truly barren market for Butler’s services. For now, however, the Heat don’t need to feel rushed into accepting a bad trade.