The Phoenix Suns are at a peculiar crossroads. They are faced with the desperate question of “to do or not to do.” A trade for Jimmy Butler is right on the horizon with both the Suns and Miami Heat front office in deep talks about a potential trade. However, will it really be the right move for the Suns to put forth all their chips in an effort to acquire Butler from the Heat?
The Suns currently sit as the 10th seed in a packed Western Conference with a 22-21 record. Given how tightly packed the lower bowl in the West is, stringing together a number of wins in the second half of the season could revive any deep playoff run hopes that the Suns might have, especially as Kevin Durant continues to produce at such a high level in his 17th season in the league.
Given this, it will be crucial for the Suns to play the right cards in the process of making any midseason acquisitions to improve their current roster. Acquiring Jimmy Butler comes with its own set of issues, as his saga with the Heat has dictated so far, and his fit with the Suns remains questionable at best.
Although Butler is a versatile player who can plug and play into any system, the Suns requirements are more along the lines of a versatile big man that can bolster their defense, or a seasoned guard who can control the offensive rhythm of the game and take some of the offensive creation load off Devin Booker and Kevin Durant’s back. Here are 3 potential stars that the Suns may benefit with over Jimmy Butler:
1. Draymond Green
Odd as it may sound, the Suns making a run for the infamous Golden State Warriors star in the hopes of a reunion with Kevin Durant might be the perfect move for the team. Draymond Green fills in all the gaps that currently haunt the Suns, especially on the defensive end of the floor. The defensive acumen and facilitation capabilities of Green on the offensive end of the floor may be crucial for the Suns.
Green’s ability to guard one through five would give the Suns incredible versatility, allowing them to play offensively oriented lineups with Durant as their big man, while not surrendering anything on the defensive end of the floor owing to Green’s top-tier defense.
On the Warriors’ side of things, potentially acquiring Bradley Beal to aid Stephen Curry in offensive creation duties may be tempting. Even with the no-trade clause in Beal’s contract, the Suns’ recent acquisition of future draft assets may be useful in enticing the Warriors, who are on the verge of a complete rebuild barring the brilliance of Curry.
2. Nikola Vucevic
One of the primary positions plaguing the Suns at the moment is the lack of a comprehensive big man on the offensive end of the floor. Their experiment playing Jusuf Nurkic and Mason Plumlee at the five has not been a success, with both players becoming negative assets on both ends of the floor. However, potentially acquiring Nikola Vucevic from the Chicago Bulls could be a fix.
The Suns will have a difficult time trading Jusuf Nurkic.
Teams want to extract most of Phoenix’s draft assets to simply take on Nurkic’s contract, which becomes a $19.4 million expiring this summer.
Phoenix could end up being stuck with Nurkic riding their bench all season. pic.twitter.com/SPR67DflWK
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) January 14, 2025
Vucevic’s offensive prowess and scoring ability would be perfect to firepower the Suns offense that has often fizzled out. He would provide the Suns a legitimate stretch big man to space the floor, allowing much more space for Durant and Booker to operate in the center of the floor.
Similar to Golden State in some ways, the Bulls are also right on the verge of a complete rebuild and have more or less a garbage sale going on for their star players. The Suns could potentially acquire Vucevic using their draft capital and throwing in some young stars like Ryan Dunn alongside Nurkic or Plumlee to finalize a trade for the 34-year-old Bulls star.
3. Zion Williamson
While this one may be more of a shot in the dark for the Suns, the potential of the deal working out might just be enticing enough for Mat Ishbia and his front office to take a swing a it. Zion Williamson has struggled mightily to remain healthy and return to the flashes of brilliance we have seen in the past. However, he continues to be out for the 14th-seed Pelicans, attempting to regain conditioning.
The Pelicans, much like the Bulls and Warriors, are on the verge of undergoing another full-blown tank, as injuries have decimated their roster this season. Given Williamson’s struggles to stay healthy and his off-court issues, the Pelicans might just be willing to sell cheap for the 2x All-Star. With the incredible potential that a healthy Zion Williamson brings to a team, he may be worth the swing for the Suns.
Gathering the assets to acquire him may be a more difficult task, however, as the Suns would need to unload their stash of draft capital alongside Beal and some of the younger talent on the Suns roster to entice the Pelicans front office to go through with the deal.
While it is certainly a shot in the dark, a healthy Williamson was amongst the most dominant forces at the rim in NBA history. If the team is willing to take a shot on Jimmy Butler, they may be enticed to try their luck with Wiliamson as well. The possibility of pairing him alongside Phoenix’s stash of sharpshooters in Durant, Booker, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal spells the perfect recipe for a offensive explosion for both Williamson and the Suns.
Although some of these trades are going to require some expert management from the Suns front office, their potential to turn the Suns into potential title contenders far outweighs what the addition of Butler may do for the team.
With Kevin Durant entering the twilight of his career, and Devin Booker seemingly having taken a step down from his offensive brilliance over the last few years, the pressure is on the Suns to make a win now move, or risk another season lost to mediocrity. The only question for them now remains – who blinks first in the Wild West?
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