Title: Jimmy Butler's Sign-And-Trade Might Not Be the Best Move
Jimmy's eyeing a trade from the Heat by February 6, but the Heat might opt to address his future during the offseason. Butler has a sizable player option for 2025-26, planning to decline and become an unrestricted free agent. Yet, the free-agent market isn't overflowing with teams offering the multi-year max contract he desires. In fact, the Brooklyn Nets are the only team projected to have enough space to do so.
Butler's camp hinted at interest in Brooklyn last fall, possibly leveraging talks with Miami. However, the Nets "have no plans to pursue Butler in free agency," as per Marc Stein. If Butler stays with the Heat past the deadline and declines his option, trading him would be simpler. Both sides would benefit from him picking up the option, widening his potential destinations.
Although Butler has shown interest in the Phoenix Suns, they're not the most likely destination. They'd need to overcome Bradley Beal's no-trade clause and find a third team willing to take on his remaining contract. If the Suns can't secure a deal by the deadline, they'd rely on Butler picking up his option to facilitate a trade outside free agency.
Teams like the Mavericks, Warriors, and Rockets might have more flexibility to acquire Butler via sign-and-trade after the deadline. However, they'd face restrictions due to the hard cap. If the Suns can shed enough salary, they may slip under the first apron, but acquiring Butler through sign-and-trade would hard cap them for the rest of the league year, making it tough to balance their roster.
James Harden previous offseason set a precedent for Butler, who could opt-in and request a trade if he didn't wish to remain a free agent. Butler declining his option would rule out teams over the first apron from signing-and-trading him, limiting his potential destinations. If he opts-in, teams over the first apron would have a broader scope of potential landing spots.
Opting-in would provide more options for Butler, as teams wouldn't face sign-and-trade restrictions. Moreover, a sign-and-trade tends to limit the return Miami might receive when trading Butler. The Sixers, for instance, didn't receive much when they sign-and-traded Butler in 2019.
The Heat's probable focus is on creating a massive trade exception, allowing them to sign-and-trade their own free agents or acquire players through trades. Encouraging Butler to pick up his option can help extend the search for his new team and allow the Heat to consider their trade prospects thoroughly.
Unless noted, stats are from NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass, Basketball Reference, Spotrac, or RealGM. All odds are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
Broader teams that might have enough cap space to offer a multi-year max contract include:
- Dallas Mavericks
- Indiana Pacers
- Brooklyn Nets (Under the first apron, but with some flexibility)
- Golden State Warriors (Interest in mid-sized contracts, but more complex due to roster considerations)
These teams might entertain offering a max contract, but their decision would depend on various factors, including their current roster needs and financial priorities.
The Miami Heat could potentially explore a sign-and-trade deal for Jimmy Butler after the deadline, should he opt-in to his contract. This scenario would increase the teams interested in acquiring Butler, as sign-and-trade restrictions would be eliminated.
If the Miami Heat succeed in persuading Butler to pick up his player option, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, one of the teams with enough space for a multi-year max contract, might reconsider their stance on pursuing Butler during free agency.
