Phoenix Suns
As unlikely as it may seem to be on paper, the Phoenix Suns continue to pop up on the rumor mill as a team that has a genuine interest in Jimmy Butler. Whether or not the Miami Heat would be open to trading Jimmy for what the Suns can offer is an entirely different story. But that's part of this exercise. We're going to work toward what Phoenix can offer and explore if it's something the Heat would want to accept or pass. At this point, the Suns' offer to the Heat would be pretty simple.
Because of their salary cap situations, the Suns can't get that flexible with what they could offer. Simply put, this is a deal that is going to center around a likely Bradey Beal for Jimmy swap. The Suns don't even have a future first-round pick that they could throw into the deal to appease the Heat more. But they could use a pick swap in 2031 and a couple of second-round picks to make this deal worth it for the Heat. It's not perfect but depending on what other offers may be on the table, perhaps it may be something Miami would have to consider.
For the Suns, this would be a huge win at the trade deadline. Even though the Suns have looked quite good when they've been completely healthy with their big 3, Beal was never viewed as an ideal fit next to Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. I'm not sure how much better of a fit Jimmy would be considered on paper, but there's reason to believe that he could mesh a bit better as he's going to be looking to finish off his career with a championship. On essentially a one-year deal, it could be worth the gamble for Phoenix.
The big question all comes down to whether the Heat would want to take on Beal's contract. And that's where this deal could all fall apart. After this season, Beal still has two years and roughly $110 million left on his contract. That's a lot of money the Heat would be opting into and without valuable draft captial, it may not make much sense for Miami to lean into this offer all that much. In the end, I just can't see this front office pivoting this way.