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Jimmy Butler trade rumors continue to dominate NBA discussions leading up to the Feb. 6 deadline, and the Miami Heat swingman added another layer to those talks Tuesday.
That is because he just so happened to be wearing shoes with Phoenix Suns colors for his team’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers:
Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but Butler has been consistently linked to the Suns during said trade discussions.
“Jimmy’s No. 1 focus is getting traded, preferably, to the Phoenix Suns. Everything else is secondary,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said at the 34:50 mark in Monday’s episode of his Hoop Collective podcast. “Not getting traded to ‘Team X,’ not getting traded to ‘Team Y,’ getting traded to the Phoenix Suns.
“And so, anything that you want to bring that’s rational, if it doesn’t mean getting traded to the Suns, Jimmy is not going to be interested in it right now. That’s one thing you got to remember out of all of that. And that is the way he is operating. The second thing is that what [ESPN’s Tim Bontemps] has been saying for months as well, is that Butler’s best move is to just focus on playing. I think that is on the table but not until after the trade deadline. And so that’s one of the things that the Heat have in the back of their mind.”
Phoenix certainly turned heads as well on Tuesday when it traded its unprotected first-round pick in 2031 to the Utah Jazz in exchange for first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, per Shams Charania of ESPN.
Shams Charania @ShamsCharania
This is an aggressive move for Phoenix and unlocks the franchise’s next six drafts — and most importantly, breaks up their lone tradable first in 2031 into three future firsts. The Suns now have tripled their first-rounders. <a href=”https://t.co/kd8gmaegTi”>https://t.co/kd8gmaegTi</a>
That naturally led to speculation about Butler:
As for Butler himself, Charania reported Tuesday that he “tripled down on his trade request. He did it to Pat Riley’s face, and last week he did it to Micky Arison, the team owner and CEO. I’m told the Heat have had some productive conversations on a potential Butler trade this week.”
It seems like things could eventually be building toward a potential trade involving the Suns.
If it does, Butler at least has the shoes for it.