The Heat are wielding a double-edged sword when it comes to Jimmy Butler being back on the court, because his focus is definitely elsewhere, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst says.
“Jimmy’s No. 1 focus is getting traded, preferably, to the Phoenix Suns. Everything else is secondary,” Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast. “Not getting traded to ‘Team X,’ not getting traded to ‘Team Y,’ getting traded to the Phoenix Suns.
“And so, anything that you want to bring that’s rational, if it doesn’t mean getting traded to the Suns, Jimmy is not going to be interested in it right now. That’s one thing you got to remember out of all of that. And that is the way he is operating. The second thing is that what [ESPN’s Tim Bontemps] has been saying for months as well, is that Butler’s best move is to just focus on playing. I think that is on the table but not until after the trade deadline. And so that’s one of the things that the Heat have in the back of their mind.”
Even after his return game, it was clear Butler is just hanging out in limbo until he gets what he wants.
“I guess it’s basketball at this point,” Butler told reporters after the game. “I know what I’m expected to do while I’m here and try to do that to the best of my ability, but we are where we are.”
However, with his huge contract, getting him to the Suns will be easy feat and Pat Riley is going to want some decent returns for his star player.
There have been recent reports of the Bucks having interest in Bradley Beal, which does help, but again this presents its own set of challenges.
A huge four-team trade will likely be the solution in getting a deal done involving Butler.
READ MORE: The Bucks Interested in Bradley Beal: Report