Bradley BealEmilee Chinn/Getty Images
Shortly after Miami Heat president Pat Riley said, “We will make it clear – We are not trading Jimmy Butler,” in a statement, the organization suspended him for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team” and said it would listen to trade offers.
In the meantime, the Phoenix Suns spiraled far enough down the standings (and below .500) to necessitate a fairly radical lineup change. This week, they moved Bradley Beal, who’s making $50.2 million this season, to the bench.
Add Butler’s reported desire to wind up on the Suns and Beal’s apparent willingness to waive his no-trade clause for a move to the Heat, Los Angeles Lakers or Denver Nuggets, and it’s easy to start thinking about the possibility of a swap.
The thing is, Beal just makes no sense in Miami. The Heat should not be looking to take on a worse (and longer-term) contract in a Butler trade. And Beal plays the same position as Tyler Herro. He and Bam Adebayo are the obvious building blocks for a post-Butler future, and Beal would take touches and opportunities away from both.
That means getting Butler to Phoenix might require a third team to get involved and for Beal to soften his stance on the no-trade clause.
Neither Denver nor L.A. should be dying to sign up for his contract either. The Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. is younger, bigger and outplaying Beal this season. The Lakers’ Austin Reaves checks two of those three boxes.
So, perhaps Miami and Phoenix can interest Beal in another Florida team, one that needed a little offensive juice even before Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner went down for injuries.
At 31, Beal presumably wants to play for a contender, in a fun market or both (hence, L.A., Miami and Denver being his initial list). Well, at the very least, playing for the Orlando Magic gives him a chance to be on a contender (or near-contender) without having to deal with a Rocky Mountain winter.
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