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Gambo: Heat’s Butler “Absolutely Interested” In Suns

December 12th 2024 at 10:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Confirming a report from Shams Charania of ESPN, plugged-in local reporter John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says Heat star Jimmy Butler is indeed open to joining the Suns. In fact, Gambadoro took it a step further.

“I always take a little bit of time, make sure I get stories correct,” Gambadoro said on the Burns & Gambo show Thursday (story via Kevin Zimmerman of ArizonaSports.com). “Jimmy Butler is absolutely interested in coming to the Phoenix Suns.

“I would go as far as to say that I believe this will be his number one choice, is to play for the Phoenix Suns.”

However, as multiple outlets have pointed out, a direct deal between Miami and Phoenix seems extremely unlikely. According to Gambadoro (Twitter link), the rough framework of a trade would involve Bradley Beal and draft compensation. That would require Beal to waive his full no-trade clause, which is far from certain, and even if he does, his contract — he’s owed about $161MM through 2026/27 — would be “unappealing” to the Heat, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Gambadoro hears the Suns would prefer to keep their lone tradable first-round pick (2031) out of any potential talks for Butler. Even if that were included, it’s difficult to envision any scenario in which Miami would be interested in that offer.

The Suns also aren’t actively pursuing Butler — according to Gambadoro, they plan to evaluate their roster over the next 10-to-15 games to see where they stand. If Phoenix performs well over that stretch, a run at Butler is even less likely.

As expected, Suns star Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) is probable to return to action on Friday vs. Utah following a three-game absence, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Jusuf Nurkic is not listed on the injury report, which mean’s he’s expected to play after missing the past five games.

Gambadoro reports (Twitter links) that the the only way a deal might come together is if Butler tries to force his way to Phoenix, but there have been no signs that he plans to do so. There’s also no indication Miami would entertain the idea of trading him to the Suns over other offers, which would presumably be more appealing. That’s assuming the Heat even decide to trade him at all — they’ve won four straight.

Ever the troll, Butler put bright orange highlights in his braids ahead of Thursday’s victory over Toronto. Unsurprisingly, he said there was no particular reason for that decision, as Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald tweets.

Butler did say he enjoyed his agent Bernie Lee going after Charania for what Lee claimed was “made-up bulls–t.” Charania stood by his reporting.

“I love it. I am all for the back and forth,” Butler said, per Chiang (Twitter link). “I mean, before he’s my agent, I guess we’re like brothers now, we do everything together. But I feel for him and at least somebody is sticking up for me.”

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