Miami Heat

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle could be part of an eventual trade involving Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.

Randle drew Miami's interest last offseason and "has remained on the Heat's radar" since then, according to SNY's Ian Begley.

Begley wrote:

According to reports, the Suns and/or Heat have talked to several teams about a three, four, or five-team deal involving Butler.

Keep an eye on Minnesota in a Butler deal. In the offseason, the Heat were one of the teams that expressed interest in trading for Julius Randle, per SNY sources. Randle has remained on the Heat's radar during the Butler saga, sources say.

I don't know if there are any active trade talks between Minnesota and Miami. But the two teams have been in touch on Butler trades.

Butler is currently suspended at least until the trade deadline as the Heat seek a trade for the discontented star.

The Suns are reportedly interested in Butler, but would need to trade Bradley Beal in order to take on Butler's salary. That means the trade would likely need to involve at least one additional team due to the Heat's reported disinterest in Beal's contract.

Any Beal trade would be additionally complicated by the fact that he would need to waive his no-trade clause in order to leave Phoenix.

Begley's report coincides with ESPN's Brian Windhorst saying on SportsCenter that the Suns have tried to set up deals involving as many as five teams, "but have not been able to overcome the fact that what they've really got to trade is Bradley Beal."

"And so now I do believe this is going to bring in some other teams," Windhorst said. "We could see some surprising moves in this in this little battle in the next couple of days."

The veteran forward, acquired from the New York Knicks as part of the three-team Karl-Anthony Towns trade in October, is playing on a potentially expiring contract, Randle has a $30.9 million player option for 2025-26.

Begley previously reported in September that the Heat, alongside the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, had talked with the Knicks about a potential trade for Randle ahead of the Towns deal.

The Heat could have room to acquire Randle if they are able to move Butler's $48.8 million salary off their books— but trading Butler by the Feb. 6 deadline could ultimately hinge on the Suns' ability to move Beal's contract.

The Miami Heat reportedly "baited" Jimmy Butler and have been "setting traps" for him to "fall" before levying a third, and indefinite, suspension against the star on Monday.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst explained the situation on Tuesday's First Take.

He led off by saying he thought both Butler and the Heat were guilty of misbehaving, beginning with the player's response to not getting an extension last summer. Windhorst referenced how Paul George handled a similar situation last year with the Los Angeles Clippers, playing out the year and then getting a new deal with the Philadelphia 76ers as opposed to rebelling.

"I think they're all guilty. I think Jimmy Butler, when he didn't get the extension last summer, a rational thing to do would have been to come in this season and play all the way, show the Heat what they have, show the rest of the league what they have, get the Heat to reconsider midseason, which is allowed under the rules, and if failing that, opt out of your contract and get paid in the summer. That is what Paul George did a year ago with the Clippers.

"We weren't really sure where Paul was physically last year. They couldn't agree to an extension with Paul and the Clippers. He went out and had a brilliant season. He had a max contract offer waiting for him in Philly. I don't think it's working out so well for Philly, but you could see what Paul George was doing. Jimmy Butler didn't do that. From the start of this season, Jimmy Butler was focused on either getting paid or getting out of there. And all of his actions over the last four or five weeks have been focused on 'get me out of here.'"

Meanwhile, Windhorst pointed the finger at the Heat, specifically regarding how they handled telling Butler (and the team) that he would no longer be in the starting lineup during a recent team practice. Windhorst also criticized Miami for its action, specifically toward a veteran player of Butler's status.

"And if you're the Miami Heat, I don't think that they've covered themselves in glory with the way they've handled this, especially in these last few weeks. They've been setting traps for Jimmy to fall into them. Well, let me give you an example of what I mean. You don't tell an ex a veteran player like Jimmy Butler that he's not starting in the huddle in front of all the other players at shoot around. That's what happened yesterday. They had their first part of their shoot around, they got together for the game planning, and Erik Spoelstra said, 'We're not starting you.' That's not how you handle somebody.

"They were baiting him. It worked. He stomped off, and then they suspended him again, which is what they wanted to do. And they're going to withhold a bunch of money from him and fight it out later. And Pat Riley knows this player, he knows what his temperament is, he knows what his history is. If they didn't want to extend him last summer, which they made their mind up not to do, and I don't have a problem with that, then they could not expect him to be through this season. I think both of them are guilty and both of them could have behaved better."

Butler was initially suspended for seven games for "conduct detrimental" to the team and then two more after missing a team flight. Now one can surmise his time on the court with Miami is over given (a) this latest suspension and (b) the impending Feb. 6 trade deadline.

Butler entered this season with one official year left on his contract at $48.8 million. He also has a $52.4 million player option for 2025-26.

Obviously, Butler would have wanted a long-term extension with the Heat as opposed to having questions about his future lingering over his head this year. However, Miami decided against doing so for the 35-year-old Butler.

He has been a franchise legend for the Heat, though, leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals three times and the NBA Finals twice in five seasons. For his Miami career, Butler has averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.

There are perhaps concerns that he's missed 15 or more regular-season games each year since the 2017-18 season. And his age is certainly a factor here as well. He's also a phenomenal postseason player, though, averaging 26.9 PPG in 2022-23 and 27.4 PPG the year prior.

Miami ultimately made its decision to let Butler play out his deal, and that's clearly something the veteran did not take kindly. Now everything has snowballed from there, to the point where this has become one of the messiest divorces between an NBA star and a team in recent memory.

So the waiting game continues until Butler is off Miami and playing for someone else. Feb. 6 is the date to watch, of course, as the Heat look to send him elsewhere and start anew.

After suspending Jimmy Butler for the third time this month on Monday, the Miami Heat are ramping up their efforts to move on from the disgruntled start.

Appearing on the Tuesday morning episode of SportsCenter, ESPN's Brian Windhorst explained the Heat are "really, really trying" to get a trade done by dropping their asking price for Butler:

"The Heat are really, really trying to make this happen. And I know that you could have said that any time in the last four or five weeks, but in talking to people who are involved in these talks, I think the Heat's prices have come down. What they're willing to accept in trade has widened, and I think that's going to bring some more teams that we're previously sitting on the sideline to the table. Obviously, the Phoenix Suns have tried to get this done for weeks. They have tried three, four, five-team machinations. They have not been able to overcome the fact that what they've really got to trade is Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause and not a very big market. And so now I do believe this is going to bring in some other teams. We could see some surprising moves in this in this little battle in the next couple of days."

Per Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, the Heat are "determined not to take back sizable contracts that run past next season." If they were asked to take back a significant contract that runs beyond the 2025-26 season, they want to be "compensated with a draft pick or two."

According to Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor, the Golden State Warriors are among the teams reconsidering their pursuit of Butler:

Butler was suspended indefinitely and for no fewer than five games by the Heat on Monday. The six-time All-Star was due to return from a two-game suspension for their game against the Orlando Magic, but ESPN's Shams Charania reported he walked out of their morning shootaround after being told he was being replaced in the starting lineup by Haywood Highsmith.

A suspension of at least five games will keep Butler out of the Heat lineup through Feb. 5. They have an off day on Feb. 6, which is also the date of the NBA trade deadline.

The Suns have been cited as Butler's preferred destination, which likely means any deal would have to involved at least three teams because Phoenix doesn't have the draft capital or ability to do a one-for-one trade unless Bradley Beal waives his no-trade clause.

Given how toxic things appear to have gotten between Butler and the Heat, it's probably in the team's best interest to simply move on and take whatever they can get. They did overcome a 14-point deficit to defeat the Magic 125-119 in double-overtime on Monday.

The Heat have climbed up to sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 23-22 record. Butler has played just five games since Dec. 21. He's averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in 25 starts.

Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat aren't letting their disgruntled star distract them amid off-court drama.

The Heat are without Jimmy Butler after he was suspended indefinitely on Monday, but Miami's head coach isn't concerned about things that are out of his control.

"I don't really care," Spoelstra said when asked if his team was equipped to handle the latest disruption from the suspension, per The Miami Herald's Barry Jackson. "We're just focusing on the task at hand."

The latest ban stems from an incident in Monday's shootaround. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Butler learned the Heat were planning to start Haywood Highsmith over him against the Orlando Magic on Monday, which led to him walking out of practice.

"The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services," Miami said in its statement. "This includes walking out of practice earlier today."

It marks Butler's third suspension since he requested a trade on Jan. 2. The first was a seven-game ban he received on Jan. 3.

"We have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games for multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks," the team said in a statement. "Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team."

Butler returned from that suspension and played three games, but received another suspension last week for missing Miami's flight to Milwaukee. The suspension was for two games.

In total, Butler has played just three games since first requesting a trade earlier this month.

Spoelstra made it clear after Butler's second suspension that he wouldn't dwell on his star player's absence from the court.

"The point that I made to our team is get used to it," he told reporters last week. "Get over it. This is the NBA life; this is the life we chose. If you think it's going to be predictable, you're really mistaken."

The Heat have little choice but to keep the focus on their season rather than what's going on behind the scenes. Miami is currently sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 22-22 and will look to stay in the playoff hunt without Butler.