As trade rumors continue to swirl, the Miami Heat have no time for distractions.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Heat have suspended Jimmy Butler for two games. The announcement comes only three games after Butler returned from a seven-game suspension due to conduct detrimental to the team.
Charania shares that Butler missed the team’s flight to Milwaukee on Wednesday and had plans to join them later in the day. Instead, he will stay back in Miami and rejoin them for Monday’s matchup against the Orlando Magic.
Jimmy Butler’s Second Suspension
Jimmy Butler’s beef with the Heat has been well-documented. The organization has shown no desire to extend the veteran, which led to a slew of trade rumors earlier this year. Front office leader Pat Riley eventually came out and insisted the team would not trade Butler and would push for the postseason. However, with Butler seemingly taking offense to the franchise’s approach, he proceeded to request a trade.
Shortly after his request โ and some dramatic comments to the media โ the Heat chose to suspend him for his season-long conduct. Many wondered if Butler would ever suit up for the franchise again, but this is precisely what happened after a deal failed to materialize. He went on to appear in the team’s next three games, averaging 13.0 points and 5.7 assists on 45.2 percent shooting from the field.
Once again, it’s fair to question whether we have officially seen Butler’s last game in a Heat uniform. While it feels unlikely a trade will materialize over the next five days, one has to imagine Miami is motivated to end the theatrics. We also saw the Phoenix Suns, who are said to be one of Butler’s preferred landing spots, make a pretty drastic move to bolster their trade chances on Tuesday night. The team traded a future unprotected 2031 first-round pick to the Jazz for three future first-round picks. Could they attempt to use these picks to pull off a blockbuster Jimmy Butler deal?
If one thing is for sure, it will take A LOT of teams to make this kind of trade work. The Suns would need to move off Bradley Beal to make things happen, and the Heat are unlikely to take back the veteran guard. This would mean at least a third team would have to get involved, but Charania suggested as many as five teams could enter the equation. And, even then, Beal has a no-trade clause! He will have to sign off on any trade the Suns attempt to make.
With so many moving parts, it feels more likely than not that a deal will not get done over the next week. But this doesn’t mean the Heat can’t suspend Butler again or decide to sit him until a deal is found. This wouldn’t necessarily help his trade value, but it’s not like he was boosting it much over the past three games!
I just hope this comes to an end soon. Not only am I sick of seeing his name in headlines, but the league is better when Jimmy Butler is playing inspired basketball! The sooner both parties can move on and put the focus back on the basketball court, the better.