The Miami Heat forward was suspended by the team for seven games, and the team said they will look to trade him.
DALLAS — The Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games on Friday and said they will seek to trade him.
The Heat said the suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.”
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team,” the Heat said in a statement, one day after Butler said in a postgame press conference that he does not believe he can be happy playing in Miami going forward.
Butler has expressed his interest in a short list of NBA teams, according to ESPN: the Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns, the Houston Rockets, and … (you guessed it) the Dallas Mavericks . But will the Mavs pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade for Butler?
Jimmy Butler next team odds: Where will the Heat star forward go?
Given that Butler has a list of preferred teams, obviously those four have the highest likelihood to get him. But which one is most likely?
There have been some hypothetical odds put out by both FloridaBet.com and Bookies.com oddsmakers. Here is what they think:
- Golden State Warriors: +1250
- Dallas Mavericks: +1750
- Brooklyn Nets: +1750
- Denver Nuggets: +2500
- Houston Rockets: +3000
- Phoenix Suns: +3000
Bookies.com’s Adam Thompson
- Golden State Warriors: +400
- Dallas Mavericks: +450
- Houston Rockets: +550
- Miami Heat: +600
- Orlando Magic: +750
- Phoenix Suns: +900
- Memphis Grizzlies: +1000
- Los Angeles Lakers: +1200
While the actual odds figures are relative, the consensus seems to be that Dallas and Golden State are the favorites to pick up Butler in a trade. To make the money end of the deal work out for either of those teams, however, they’d need to trade about a quarter of their respective rosters, according to ESPN.
Both Golden State and Dallas would likely need a third or fourth team involved in the hypothetical trade to work all of the contracts out.
We’ll see how it all plays out. In theory, the earliest that Butler could play again for the Heat is Jan. 17 at home against Denver.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.