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Everyone and their mother knows that Jimmy Butler wants to leave the Miami Heat by the Feb. 6 trade deadline. However, they'll most likely need more than one trade partner to get a deal done, thanks in large part to the NBA's new salary cap rules.
The Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, and Detroit Pistons all want to help “facilitate” a multi-team Butler deal, via NBA insider Marc Stein.
“Toronto. Washington. Charlotte. Detroit. All are known to have interest in helping to facilitate a Butler deal,” Stein reported. “Perhaps you'll recall that, when reports of the Raptors' eagerness to join in first began to circulate, one league source told me for a piece published here last Sunday that ‘about half the league' has made similar feelings known to the Heat.”
The main destination for Butler that's been discussed is the Phoenix Suns, but Bradley Beal's contract complicates that scenario. The former Wizard has a no-trade clause and a $50.2 million salary, which plummets his value. The Heat don't want Beal, so the Suns need to find a team that'll absorb his contract to acquire Butler. Additionally, Beal has to agree to waive the no-trade clause, which he may only do for a contender.
These “facilitating teams” would absorb unwanted contracts in a Butler trade, likely in exchange for long-term assets. For example, the Milwaukee Bucks could trade Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez to a facilitator to make room for Beal, or the Chicago Bulls could deal Zach Lavine.
The Bucks are particularly complicated because second-apron rules don't allow teams to away multiple salaries to absorb one big salary, but they can still figure something out. The new two-apron system restricts organizations with payrolls above those thresholds.
“We're close enough to the Feb. 6 trade deadline now that teams with the flexibility to join in on a theoretical Butler blockbuster have incentive to show some patience and see what shakes out in coming days,” Stein continued.
The Bulls are “absolutely involved” in these discussions, via ESPN's Brian Windhorst. If a Butler-Suns deal doesn't work out, though, Miami will have to find another potential suitor. If it doesn't pull off a deal before Feb. 6, the 35-year-old will most likely opt out and walk in free agency this summer.
