This past summer, there were a number of players that found themselves on the trade block, at least briefly, before starting their season with the same team. Zach LaVine and Brandon Ingram have been available all summer and remain very much on the block, but the Bulls and Pelicans have struggled to find suitors willing to send any real value back in trade talks.
Jimmy Butler was another player that was brought up in trade rumblings once it became clear the Heat were not going to budge on their stance of not giving him a max extension. Butler is entering the final year of his current deal (as long as he declines his player option as is widely expected), but the Heat shut down trade rumors pretty quickly and seemed willing to give it one more go this season. After a 12-10 start to the season, the Heat seem pretty clearly in a tier (or two) below the contenders at the top of the Eastern Conference, and while being slightly above .500 is good enough for fifth in the East right now, it’s pretty clear they aren’t a real threat as constructed.
As such, Miami is now willing to listen on calls about Butler, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, who has three preferred destinations in mind if he is to get traded.
The Heat are open to listening to offers for Butler and making a deal if the proposal is right, league sources told ESPN, and Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, has indicated in league circles that Butler is open to destinations such as two of the Texas teams (Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks) and the Golden State Warriors. Butler is a native of Houston, Texas. Above all, though, he is believed to prefer a win-now title contender in any trade. Teams have also been informed that Butler intends to opt out of his deal in the offseason and become a free agent, sources said. The Heat have hovered around the play-in tournament over the last two seasons, and with Butler’s contractual status, they have been open-minded to trade inquiries.
The Rockets have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2024-25 season, taking another leap into being one of the West’s best through the first quarter of the season. Houston also has plenty of ammunition to make a trade for an established star if it wanted to, as it could package a young player (or two) with Dillon Brooks’ contract to try to consolidate talent and make a push right now. The question for Houston, is if Jimmy Butler is currently good enough to be the guy they make their big move for, as they’d need to think Butler is the missing piece in making them a title contender.
Dallas is obviously an established contender having made the Finals last year, but whether they have the assets to entice Miami into trading Butler is a bigger question. They do not have much in the way of draft picks to trade after their moves last summer, and their best young player (Dereck Lively II) is a core piece that they can’t afford to include in a trade. That limits what a trade offer from Dallas can look like, but perhaps they can get creative and put together a good enough deal to bring in Butler to join Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
Then there are the Warriors, who have been chasing a second star all year, falling short in pursuits of Paul George and Lauri Markkanen. Having chosen not to extend Jonathan Kuminga this summer, his long-term status in Golden State is in question, and if the Heat see him as a potential star, he could be the kind of young player Pat Riley would want to add in a Butler deal. We still have to see the Warriors be willing to part with the former No. 7 overall pick, but they certainly can be a legitimate suitor for Butler if they want to be.