Report: Trading For Jimmy Butler Is Suns’ Top Objective

January 24, 2025

According to NBA insiders Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN, trading for Jimmy Butler is the Phoenix Suns’ top objective.

Butler has requested a trade from the Miami Heat and wants to play with Suns stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

“Phoenix, fighting for positioning in the West play-in race, showed just how desperate it is by trading its unprotected 2031 first-round pick for three lower-value firsts: either the 29th or 30th pick in this year’s draft, plus the worst of Utah, Cleveland and Minnesota’s picks in both the 2027 and 2029 drafts,” Bontemps and Windhorst wrote. “Tuesday’s deal gave the Suns some flexibility in their dealings now but at the cost of mortgaging their future even further. Maybe doing so will help get Jimmy Butler to Phoenix — sources said landing the 35-year-old forward remains the team’s top objective.”

One of the best two-way players in the NBA, Butler is averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.4 blocks this season while shooting 54.0% from the field, 36.1% from beyond the arc and 80.1% from the free-throw line.

The Heat have suspended Butler twice since his trade request.

A Marquette product, Butler is making $48.8 million this season. He has a player option worth $52.4 million for next season.

The NBA trade deadline is February 6. The Heat, according to multiple reports, are not close to trading Butler.

Butler has played for the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers and Heat. He has career averages of 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.4 blocks.

Butler joined the Heat in 2019. He has guided the franchise to the NBA Finals twice.

The Bulls, Timberwolves and Sixers traded Butler. It won’t be long until the Heat do the same.

“The point that I made to our team is get used to it,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said on Thursday. “Get over it. This is the NBA life. This is the life we chose. If you think it’s going to be predictable, you’re really mistaken. … It takes a mental fortitude and commitment in terms of the task at hand. Nothing changes in terms of the task at hand. We have a game tonight, we have enough continuity, we know what our identity is at this point. You can make any excuse you want to, but we get to do what we love.”