The Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks are among the teams that have been informed not to trade for Jimmy Butler, per reports from NBA insiders Chris Haynes and Kevin O’Connor.
While Butler doesn’t have a trade clause in his contract, he is expected to opt out of his player option this summer to become a free agent. As a result, teams will want to gauge his interest in re-signing before actually trading for him.
The Miami Heat appear stuck between a rock and a hard place, despite having suspended him and inviting offers from any interested team.
Lot of rumblings that the Milwaukee Bucks have also been informed not to trade for Jimmy Butler.@ChrisBHaynes reported earlier the Memphis Grizzlies were told not to. That’s now two playoff teams Butler could be refusing.
So…does Pat Riley give Jimmy what he wants?
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) January 7, 2025
Grizzlies, Bucks Could Have Been Interesting
Considering the pool of assets at Memphis’ disposal, it is a bit disappointing Butler has no interest in joining forces with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
One would imagine a deal would be centered around Desmond Bane, with other players and picks involved as well to match salaries.
He would certainly be valuable in playoff half-court settings offensively, but that’s a moot point now.
In the case of the Bucks, any possibility of a deal seemed remote to begin with. Milwaukee is a second-apron team and, as a result, could only trade players 1-for-1 with the salaries matching exactly. That would leave Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard as the only players who could be traded for Butler. The chances of that happening were always slim to none.
Will Jimmy Get What He Wants?
With Butler and his representation making clear which teams he won’t re-sign with, it definitely makes life easier for his preferred teams.
The Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks have been previously listed as his targeted destinations.
Reported on the pod today that execs involved say Butler’s been making it pretty obvious that he has one desired destination: Phoenix. https://t.co/7Q1upcgGRo
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 7, 2025
Bradley Beal gave his own assertions of the Jimmy Butler trade rumors, confirming that because of the no-trade clause in his contract, he will have final say on if Phoenix is actually able to acquire Butler. Beal was recently shifted to a bench role as the Suns have struggled of late.
Houston appears in the best position to appease both Butler’s demands and the Heat’s desire for young assets and draft capital, but it remains to be seen if the Rockets are willing to sacrifice the assets needed to get a deal done.
Time Is Of The Essence
At the end of the day, Butler was suspended for the duration of the Heat’s current six-game road trip, with the hope a deal can be completed before the team returns home.
It makes this upcoming week or so extremely enticing, as teams looking to trade for him will also know Miami doesn’t have a strong hand to play.
