The Suns’ bizarre, desperate Jazz trade is really about Jimmy Butler

On Tuesday, the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns completed a trade that is fairly bizarre on its face, leaving us all channeling our inner Brian Windhorst and asking the question: “What is going on in Phoenix?”… and wondering if it all ties back to the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler’s ongoing trade demand.

The move would not be that notable in a vacuum, as its just picks moving around, with Phoenix sending its last tradeable draft pick, an unprotected 2031 selection, to Utah in exchange for — take a deep breath — “the least favorable firsts in 2025 of Cleveland/Minnesota, 2027 of Cleveland/Minnesota/Utah and 2029 of Cleveland/Minnesota/Utah,” according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Again, this move leaves the Suns with zero of their own tradeable first round picks, and only a bunch of lesser selections and pick swaps from previous deals. And yes, the Suns, owned by a mortgage lending billionaire, continue to split their assets into multiple, some could say, subprime assets in order to chase a title right now, future be damned. Hollywood would reject the script for being too on-the-nose.

But anyway, why would Phoenix do that deal? If one reads the tea leaves, it’s not to see multiple signs on Tuesday pointing to this small trade being the precursor to a much bigger move… their long-rumored pursuit of Jimmy Butler.

How does this connect to a potential Jimmy Butler trade?

Let’s break that answer down, and follow along as I connect the dots on my trade conspiracy corkboard.

Earlier the same day, Fred Katz of The Athletic reported that Beal “would consider waiving his no-trade clause for the right destination, according to a source familiar with his thinking.”

Considering Beal being unwilling to relocate would preemptively kill any Butler deal, that is a big development, given that his $50.2 million salary would be the only one big enough to allow the Suns to acquire Butler without giving up Kevin Durant or Devin Booker, which is not happening.

Could Miami be a destination he’d be willing to waive that clause for? Considering Beal himself previously admitted he was confused why the Heat didn’t trade for him when he was on the Washington Wizards, its seems entirely possible he’d be willing to stop coming off the bench in Arizona to start — and face no state income tax on his gargantuan deal — in South Beach.

But that’s not the only sign things may be moving towards a Butler trade. While Jimmy did not make the spectacle we were all sort of hoping for in his return to play for the Heat over the weekend, according to Charania, he has “tripled down on his trade request” and Miami has “had some productive conversations on a potential Butler trade this week.”

Could those talks have been so productive that the Suns went ahead and sent their last remaining first-rounder that they controlled for multiple (likely worse) picks? Future selections that would allow the Heat to say they got multiple picks for Butler to save face in this whole saga? It seems quite possible.

And even if those multiple picks will all likely be worse than the Suns 2031 selection if we’re all even still around as a planet by then, those three worse picks would still give their scouts several bites at the draft apple in exchange for sending out Butler and taking on the two years and $110 million remaining on Beal’s contract after this season.

And while it can sometimes be dangerous to play body language doctor, Butler certainly had the internet buzzing with his demeanor after the Suns-Jazz trade was officially announced:

And if you want more than body language, The Athletic confirmed Butler was hopeful about getting to Phoenix following the smaller deal:

Does all that mean a deal is done? No. And the Suns have done some wild, deranged transactions… see their trade for Beal in the first place, or their slew of other pick swaps to split their few remaining assets into more, worse assets over the time since. So them taking a desperate swing to set up a Jimmy trade is certainly not out of the question, but it certainly looks more possible now than it did a week ago.

We’ll see if they can actually get it done before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.