The battle between Butler and Riley has left the Heat players disinterested in fighting. In a previous game against the Pistons, the team's two core players, Adebayo and Herro, sat on the bench with a look of bewilderment. This is easy to understand; Pat Riley's treatment of the team's veterans made them feel the coldness of losing their lips. Now, Riley, who has been forced to the brink, urgently needs to trade Jimmy Butler as soon as possible. However, Butler's previous remarks have made many teams wary, as spending a lot of money to get a Butler who only plays half a season has deterred many teams. The Heat not being able to maximize their interests is also what Riley finds most frustrating.
After the Texas duo withdrew from the competition for Butler, both the Bucks and the Grizzlies expressed interest in trading for Butler. However, Butler's team made it very clear that Jimmy does not want to play for them. For the Bucks and Grizzlies, who want to challenge for the championship, it's not just about getting him; they must get Butler to agree to a contract extension. Otherwise, if he opts out of his contract this summer, these two teams will get nothing.
In fact, Butler's desired destination is the Phoenix Suns. The team's owner, Ishbia, and general manager, James Jones, have both stated that they hope Butler can join them. They can also meet Butler's demand for a two-year maximum salary extension. The current difficulty is who the Suns can trade for Butler?
Since the team has already exceeded the second luxury tax line, such a scattered exchange is impossible; it can only be one-for-one. That means the Suns can only trade one of their three giants for Jimmy Butler. Durant, the owner of the Suns, Ishbia, definitely doesn't want to give up. He named Durant as the first person to trade after buying the Suns, which is absolute true love.
Booker is another son raised by the Suns. Although he hasn't proven himself in terms of personal leadership ability, his state has declined significantly in the past month. This may be due to not resting well last summer and participating in the Paris Olympics. Anyway, according to efficiency value, he is now the lowest of the Suns' three giants. However, he is the box office guarantee for the Suns, and Ishbia probably doesn't want to give him up.
So, the only option left is to use Beal as the bargaining chip for trading Butler. The problem is that the Heat is unwilling to take on Beal's big contract worth $50 million a year, and Beal has a trade veto power, which greatly increases the difficulty of the trade. Now, the Suns must convince Beal to give up his trade veto power to complete the trade. This means that the Suns must meet the requirements of two superstars to complete the trade.
Now, the Heat has made it clear that they don't want the future, they only want the present. Because the current Heat players, Adebayo and Herro, are in their prime, there is no need for the team to tank. Most importantly, in previous trades, the Heat had many clauses that required the team to make the playoffs to keep their own future first-round picks. Therefore, after trading away Jimmy Butler, they desperately hope to increase the team's immediate combat effectiveness.
If the Suns want to complete the trade now, they must bring in a third party. However, due to the restrictions of the second luxury tax line, the difficulty of the trade has become very high. It is no longer a transaction that General Manager James Jones can handle alone. To get a third party involved, significant concessions may have to be made in other future transactions. Owner Ishbia may also be closely following the situation, otherwise such a trade would be difficult to complete.
The Heat also wants to act quickly. The reason is simple: there is only one month left until the trade deadline. If Butler cannot be traded at that time, he will directly opt out of his player option for next season this summer, leaving the Heat with nothing. This is why Riley previously stated that he had no intention of selling Butler this season.
Because the offers from teams interested in Butler were ridiculously low, this is not what the calculating Riley wanted to see. He just wanted to increase Butler's trade value. However, the other teams interested in Butler are not fools; if you don't act, you'll be stuck with him.
According to Butler's principle of designated next home and the difficulty of the Suns' second luxury tax line trade, it is really very difficult to complete this trade. It can be said to be hopeless from any angle. Both the Suns and the Heat need to make sacrifices. If the trade cannot be completed, then wait for Butler to join as a free agent next season. However, seeing the Suns' current state of half-life, Butler's thoughts may not necessarily be on the Suns next season.
Do you think Butler's wish to join the Suns can be realized before the trade deadline? Welcome to leave your comments and discuss this topic.