After ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that the Heat have lowered their asking price in trade talks for Jimmy Butler as they look to get a deal done ahead of next Thursday’s deadline, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter links) hears that the team has begun to show more willingness to consider taking on salary beyond 2025/26 as long as the contract isn’t “outrageous.”
Jackson’s report comes on the heels of Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports stating that the Warriors have reentered the mix for Butler now that Miami has dropped its asking price. Shams Charania of ESPN confirmed during a SportsCenter appearance on Tuesday (YouTube link) that Golden State has been back in touch with the Heat about Butler.
Jackson points specifically to Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins‘ contract, which includes a $30.2MM player option for 2026/27, as one that the Heat might not be totally opposed to taking on. By comparison, Bradley Beal, who is said to be of zero interest to the Heat, has a $57.1MM player option for ’26/27, along with the no-trade clause that he’s reportedly not interested in giving up if dealt.
While the Heat are loosening their requirements a little, their preference remains to acquire shorter-term deals that expire as soon as possible, Jackson writes. According to Jackson, for each extra year of salary the Heat take on, they want a “carrot” such as a draft pick.
Here’s more on the Butler situation:
- The Suns‘ trade with Utah that saw them split their 2031 first-round pick into three less valuable first-rounders wasn’t specifically about trying to acquire Butler, according to plugged-in Phoenix-area radio host John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Gambadoro says the Suns expect to be a good team in 2031 and felt like giving up that pick was a worthwhile risk in order to gain three separate assets that could be used to upgrade the roster.
- Ian Begley of SNY.tv suggests keeping an eye on the Timberwolves in the event of a multi-team Butler blockbuster. As Begley explains, the Heat were among the teams that expressed interest in trading for Julius Randle during the 2024 offseason and have kept tabs on the forward following his trade to Minnesota. Randle could become a free agent as early as this summer – he holds a $30.9MM player option for 2025/26 – which makes his contract a fit for Miami. Begley adds that the Heat and Timberwolves have been in touch, though he isn’t sure if there are any active talks between the two teams.
- As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes, the Heat pulled out an “invigorating” double-overtime win over Orlando in the first game of Butler’s latest suspension on Monday. Meanwhile, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald takes a closer look at what life without Butler looks like on the court for the Heat, observing that the team has begun to lean more heavily on bigger lineups.
The Heat proved with that win over Orlando that standing pat and letting the money come off the books isn’t as bad as taking bad bad deals…
So whilst they are lowering their asking price, they also strengthening their position at the bargaining table…
Grizz,nuggets,clippers could all get him. Randle makes no sense for Miami!
Wolves new owners have not enough money Butler doesn’t want them
I never mentioned wolves.
I don’t think Butler to MN is what anyone is thinking. the idea is that they could help in a three team deal. one idea is randle going to Miami to help even out salaries. Panther’s point is that the heat don’t need/want him. to that point, I think the only reason they would take him is to get Jimmy out the door. I hope this helps
Cool
Butler isn’t welcome in Minnesota. The coward doesn’t even play the games in Minneapolis when he’s there (with heat and bulls). It’s always ‘he’s sick’ ‘he needed a day off’ ‘he was hurt, but will be fine tomorrow’
He’s a coward, entitled and set the wolves way back. Thibs and him were some off the worse front office decisions made and fans would boo him even in a Wolves Jersey.
So it would be Anderson, Payton, and Wiggins for Butler. A take it or leave it offer. Heat has very little wiggle room.
arc89, Anderson has a 4 year deal, so Miami is unlikely to want him. They’ve also got a lot of bigs already.
Try Wiggins, Schroeder, and Payton for Butler plus another Heat player on a minimum. No draft picks involved. Heat need PG help, this is a sweet deal for them.
Anderson is on a one year deal
My bad 3 year deal
Reno~ Anderson only has 9.2 left guaranteed for next year.
Its not ideal but shouldn’t preclude a trade entirely. Mia could melt off 17 m with Looney+ GP3 who I think will both be involved so that helps
Schroeder needs to go in some deal. Dont care which one any player in the NBA on an MLE is better than him.
Wiggins goes back to Wolves and Randle to Heat?
Randle and Bruce Brown to Heat
Warriors still have all expiring contracts to mail out
I think this would make the wolves really thin at PF. it’s an interesting idea though.
I dont think Schroeder can be trade Aristotle until 15th of Feb. Deadline is 6th of Feb, thus making him a warrior.
No part of the reason the deal was done on the day it was done is he becomes tradable again on the day before the deadline.
Holding makes the most sense…I see no real trade scenarios that makes sense for multiple reasons, and few that are even possible
If Memphis wants to send over Jaren Jackson jr, Marcus Smart, GG Jackson, 2028 1st and 2030 1st, go ahead lol…you’re not doing that either, and where does that leave you anyway?
Financially, it would be impossible to do with Moody or without Schroder, which is annoying, but how would you feel about Draymond Green, Gary Payton, Schroder, Gui Santos, and 2025 1st, 2027 1st, 2026 Atlanta 2nd, and possibly another 2nd in there, b/c of certain factors…I tried to do something with moody or possibly Burks going back to GS too, but it’s just barely short financially…
Jonathan Isaac, Anthony Black, Jett Howard, Corey Joseph, and picks for Butler…
Obi Toppin, Jarace Walker, Aaron Nesmith, James Johnson, Isaiah Jackson, James Wiseman, TJ McConnell, 2025 Heat 2nd, 2028 Indiana 1st, 2030 1st for Jimmy…Heat dump Jackson, Wiseman, and Johnson or McConnell
Hardaway jr, Ausar Thompson, Wendell Moore, Marcus Sasser, Jaden Ivey 2027 1st, 2029 1st, 2028 Charlotte or Clippers 2nd for Jimmy Butler and Alec Burks…Heat dump Ivey and hardaway/sasser
I can’t really think of many other 2 team options, and those already are…I don’t know maybe New Orleans or Toronto could make some sense…
the thing is, I don’t even know what those teams i mentioned situations are against the hard cap, so I don’t even know if they’d be able to sign the players they’d need to fill out their roster to even make those deals…and in all of them, the Heat are basically just cutting multiple people
The Heat are arguably better off letting him leave for nothing than making another terrible trade, on top of the Rozier deal from last year
I don’t care if he leaves for nothing, or has to sit on the bench for 2 years at 50 million sitting on the cap sheet. Treat like he’s injured, if it comes to that…
You are way over value Butler since the Heat has very little leverage in a trade. No team is giving up 2 1st round picks for him. They will need to take back bad and expiring contracts.
arc89, we hit “Post Comment” at the same time :–)
formerlyz, it feels like you’re valueing Butler dramatically higher than his value, even assuming it hasn’t declined over the last month. Why would anybody give the Heat a first round pick, much less 2, for Butler?!
Any team acquiring Butler has to manage the same problem that the Heat would if they kept him: he has a $52M player option for next season, which is about $15M over his market value. Along with his age and poor availability, that’s why there has been no market for Butler.
Those deals they’d have to take back to match salaries are worse than the 2 years on Butler’s deal, by a large margin, and theyd have to have dead money for the people theyd have to release…Heat could literally just not trade him. My whole point is what it would take to make any trade worth it at all are deals like those, and not many are even possible otherwise
> Those deals they’d have to take back to match
> salaries are worse than the 2 years on Butler’s deal,
> by a large margin, and theyd have to have dead
> money for the people theyd have to release.
Maybe exactly the opposite is true? For example, take Wiggins, Payton, and Schroeder for Butler and Burks. That’s 3 for 2.
1. Heat are carrying only 13, this gets them to a playoff-ready 14.
2. Schroeder and Payton are expiring. That’s $22M off the books at year-end. Both fit Heat culture.
3. Wiggins has a $28M contract. He shoots 39% from deep, and is a better wing defender than anybody else on the Heat. It’s a highly moveable contract if Heat ever want out.
I think the issue is that nothing is worse for the heat than the two years left on Jimmy’s deal because he won’t play for them. I think most people would agree that Butler would generally be worth a lot more than the heat will actually get.
> most people would agree that Butler would
> generally be worth a lot more than the heat will
> actually get.
Disagree. As has Miami for the last 10 months.
At 36 yrs old and with poor availability, no team, including Miami, values him at $52M next season. Try $37M.
You all who say hold out know you can’t handle stress. Why remain in a toxic situation? Trade the guy!
yea… keep a giant black cloud over the team and tell every current, future, and former member of the heat that they will just blackball you if you act out… GREAT IDEA! Kinda like saying Bam is best when only guarding bigs…. or the Heat should have paid Wade when he was 37… or the Heat should trade Herro 43049303 times…. all your ideas are perfect!
I’ve said for 2 years now the time to trade Herro past, and the rest is literal nonsense that has never been said by me. They shouldn’t have ever let Wade leave over an extra year, as the issue, and they certainly should have paid him, if the choice is him or Whiteside, as you conveniently left out, b/c you actually defended signing Whiteside, and didn’t want to trade him for what ended up being Jayson Tatum…
Again, I’ve shown zero hostility towards you, and for years now, you randomly bring me up, though at least this is a reply…all b/c I’m a Heat fan, different from you…all b/c I don’t think certain people should play in certain matchups, and all just for pointing out the teams that have won the last 15 years, even if you want to pretend none of those teams won
If the price has dropped, don’t count the Lakers out.
And teams wanna see the Lakers successful?
Would be hard for the Lakers with the lack of payroll they can deal. Rui, Finley, Vincent, and Hood is about what it would take to add up payroll.
Lakers have nothing Heat want
Lakers keep big 3
angelstew, have you heard of the salary cap?
What if hawks out of no where get Butler for Hunter and Capella with a pick????
I don’t know how much he moves the needle there. Sure Butler brings defense and playmaking but Hunter is a decent scorer and a good defender, a lot cheaper, a lot younger and a better fit with young guys like Risacher, Daniels and Johnson.
Taco, you nail it.
Hunter is a keeper, still improving and a great value. Atlanta’s going young, Butler doesn’t fit.
Nuggets may pursue Hunter and Nance Jr for depth.
Wiggins GP3 Looney Anderson
for Butler Jrich Burks
works with a tiny tiny 3 rd party contribution. No big picks need to be attached anywhere. Warriors could find a bu C with the open spot
At this point Id do that if Mia. I do like Wiggins tho, some don’t
Crunch, agreed that Wiggins would suit MIA. He’s also got a highly moveable contract.
Wiggins is a great nicest guy
Heat doesn’t need new Butller guy like Draymond wearing glasses
GP3 is the fusion of GPII and CP3
Heat should have zero interest in Randle. Bam has been great at the 4 with Ware at the 5 and behind them Jovic has been solid aswell recently.
I still would love to see them add Ingram as their Butler replacement at the 3. He can defend, he can facilitate, he can score at all three levels and he fits a Herro/Bam timeline. He’d slot in great as probably the number 2 option on offence with Herro but doesn’t have the ego or mentality to demand more touches or be the leader of the team which Bam does.
Pelicans are also looking more and more desperate to move Ingram as the deadline looms. It wouldn’t be a straight swap and need atleast a third team but think that would suit the pelicans better anyways taking back 1/2 year deals along with picks. Pels aren’t doing anything this season so they don’t need a win now package. Pelicans have the likes of Murphy, Herb and Zion at the forward spots so it’s not like they need a direct replacement either.
Would love to see something soon
IMO, Julius Randle to the Heat is h gb highly iunlikely.
Heat have been wanting to move Bam to the 4 for years, which is why they drafted Kel’el Ware at the 5, and Ware has been a huge success so far.
Heat will be looking for a wing that can defend to replace Butler. Andrew Wiggins would fit in perfectly alongside Herro, Bam, and Ware. No-brainer.
I do like a Herro Wiggins Bam Ware set, just need to find a Pg that could hit the 3 and is athletic ….Mario Chalmers got any kin ready yet?
Maybe Sexton in the summer for cheap or even this deadline , Id like a more defensive minded guard but those just don’t existence by happenstance today…perhaps future draft
I was assuming Miami would send cash with the deal too, essentially making Jimmy not that expensive for this season to the team getting him.
Please Warriors…..No Butler…..He is a cancer!! He would f… up the chemistry of any team
azcrook ,
Au contraire, GSW is perfect for Butler because misconduct of any kind by a star player is always ignored and this edition of the Warriors doesn’t worry about “team chemistry”, whether a star respects his teammate, whether a star leads by example, etc.
Nothing Butler has ever done remotely compares to Draymond’s greatest hits. And GSW has never suspended Draymond for more than a game or two. Jimmy fits right in.
Cant wait for Butler be a Dub and see this fiasco continue
I mean after the punch he can’t make the Warriors chemistry worse…
I say trade Butler for green and whatever. Dump Draymond because Jimmy plays defense. Jimmy passes the ball. Jimmy can rebound a little bit and you get out of Draymond Green’s next two years.
Jimmy doesnt play the same type of defense. You wont see him dragging some rookie around like theyre in 2k while he makes them into a competent defender.
Gary, Agree about the need to lose Draymond’s contract. Accumulating injuries continue to reduce his availability and performance. We’re still 3 games away from his return from the latest injury.
This trade deadline is the last opportunity to get anything of value back for Draymond. I doubt Miami would take him, though. Maybe in a 3-way?
His contract will be a boat-anchor next season and will kill us in 2026-27..
The Heat would rather have Draymond than Wiggins exponentially more
Anyone advocating for GSW to acquire Butler is a either anti-Warriors or a fool. Especially if it involves Wiggins!