Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler reportedly wants to team up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the Phoenix Suns.
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported Wednesday that every team official around the NBA he reached out to believes “the Suns are the destination Butler desires on the other side of his standoff with the Heat. You hear the same sentiment even from executives with teams that have been mentioned as potential Butler suitors.”
Fischer highlighted both the six-time All-Star’s willingness to play with Durant and Booker and also the likelihood that Suns governor Mat Ishbia would provide a contract extension.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported Sunday the Western Conference club is “widely regarded as the team most interested in trading for Butler” and added that Ishbia “is believed to be as willing to sign the 35-year-old to a lucrative new contract as anyone you’ll find.”
Yet Stein also noted the Heat weren’t that interested in accepting a potential offer of Bradley Beal—if he even waives his no-trade clause—and a 2031 first-round pick, which would mean the Suns would have to find a third team willing to accept Beal’s contract.
At this point, it seems like Phoenix needs to do something before the season slips away.
It is 16-19 and in 12th place in the Western Conference standings. It is 1.5 games back of the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament, which is surely not what the team expected starting the season with the trio of Durant, Booker and Beal.
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