he Miami Heat and their superstar forward Jimmy Butler were at the center of NBA headlines, as it was announced that the team was willing to hear offers for the player who has helped guide them to three Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals in the last six years.
At first glance, this open-minded approach makes sense. Butler is 35, in the final year of his contract, and he wants to get paid a lot more money than the Heat are probably willing to give him. Besides, at 12-10, the Heat hardly seem to be contending for a title this season (but then again, everything is not what it seems).
It is worth noting that being open to hearing offers and actively looking for a trade for the six-time All-Star are two completely different things. While the Heat are not immediately hanging up when people call them about Butler, it will take a king's ransom to get them to actually pull the trigger on a deal.
It doesn't seem like Jimmy Butler wants to go to Sacramento
In Shams Charania's report (the insider who broke the news), he mentioned a few teams that Butler would be potentially interested in going to. Those teams were the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks or Golden State Warriors.*
(*Sidebar: The reason that Butler is able to control where he goes is that he can opt out of his player option for the 2025-26 offseason, become an unrestricted free agent, and leave whatever team trades for him after a half season if he so chooses.)
Unfortunately, that list does not include our Sacramento Kings. You can't really blame him for not having us on his list, either. First, given all the big salaries the Kings have on the books, it would be tricky for them to put together a trade that works financially while also keeping the team's key pieces intact.
Second, the Kings have gotten off to a slow start, and they are facing a steep uphill climb to get back into the top six of the Western Conference (they are currently 12th).
They also don't have Stephen Curry or Luka Doncic/Kyrie Irving on their team (like the Warriors and Mavericks do, respectively). And they don't have the young core he can amplify (like the Rockets do).
The Kings probably need to make a trade if they hope to be anything more than first round fodder in the unforgiving Western Conference. But based on this reporting and all the circumstances surrounding the situation, it likely won't be Butler.