With Jimmy Butler in the midst of his third unpaid Miami Heat team suspension, this one a five-game sanction that runs through the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, the sense around the team is of being closer to impending closure than any other point during the process.

No matter how badly the Phoenix Suns may want Jimmy Butler, there just doesn't seem to be a viable way for them to get him. Nobody wants the Bradley Beal contract. Even if someone did, Beal himself doesn't seem eager to drop his no-trade clause to help the Suns dump him.

Butler has been the face of Miami’s team since arriving in the summer of 2019 via a trade from Philadelphia, helping the Heat make two NBA Finals appearances. He has previously made waves on his way out of Chicago and Minnesota in trades and is averaging 17 points in 25 games so far this season, his lowest average in more than a decade.