On December 15, Beijing time, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer jointly reported on Jimmy Butler's latest trading news. Previously, Shams reported that Butler is only willing to go to the Warriors, Mavericks, Rockets and Suns, and Stein and Fischer followed up by saying that only the Warriors of the four teams are really interested in Butler, while the Heat will only trade Butler if they get a fair return, and they are not afraid of losing the All-Star forward for nothing in the free agent market next year.

According to the report, most of the teams interviewed by Stein and Fischer unanimously shared the same two perspectives:

1. There is a growing belief across the league that the Heat are indeed willing to trade Butler before the February 7 deadline, despite their tremendous success together over the past five seasons.

2. Most teams believe that no matter where Butler is swapped, he will not exercise his $52.4 million player option for next season and will become a free agent on July 1.

Butler has until June 30 to make a formal decision on his 2025-26 player options.

Still, according to a rival executive, the Heat will only trade Butler for what they consider to be "fair value." They aren't worried about losing the six-time All-Star for nothing without any compensation.

With only the Nets expected to have a lot of salary cap space next summer, and they can't even offer cap cap space, the Heat have reason to doubt that Butler will have a summer market that he thinks is attractive. The Heat needed a sign-and-trade deal with Philadelphia to acquire Butler for the 2019-20 season, and if the drama continues beyond this season, Butler will likely have to rely on a sign-and-trade before leaving.

After ESPN reported that Butler could also join the Suns, Butler dyed some noticeable orange in his hair, to which he responded: "I can dye my hair any color I want, and I don't have any subconscious in my hair." ”

League insiders continue to describe the current situation as the Golden State Warriors, the only team interested in the 35-year-old of the four most frequently cited potential Butler suitors, could eventually spark some substantial trade talks.

The Rockets and Mavericks have not shown any real interest in Butler's trade pursuits, and the Suns can only make a realistic offer for Butler if the Heat are willing to accept Beal. Keep in mind that the Heat abruptly dropped interest in trading Beal in the 2023 offseason, partly because of the trade veto in Beal's contract, but also because of the huge salary he was involved involving.

Beal is 31 years old and has a salary of $50.2 million this season, $53.66 million for 2025-26 and a player option of $57.12 million for 2026-27. He and James are the only two players in the league who currently have a real trade veto. In addition to the salary, Beal has also suffered serious injury problems, missing 38 of the 106 regular season games since joining the Suns.