The buzz: Things are messy as ever in Miami, where Jimmy Butler “still wants to be traded,” per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. The Heat seem eager to finalize this divorce, too, with one source saying, “I don’t know how he can come back to this locker room” following his suspension, and another adding, “We don’t want him back.”

The best landing spot: Phoenix Suns

Basketball-wise, Butler won’t find a better fit than the Suns. They could use his toughness, versatility and complementary scoring and playmaking, and he would thrive amid the space created by hooping alongside elite shot-makers like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Butler also sounds more than convinced Phoenix is the right fit for him.

“If [the Heat are] doing this transition to Bam (Adebayo) and Tyler (Herro), Jimmy’s like, ‘Fine, do your transition,'” a source told Shelburne. “If [he’s] going to be the second or third wheel, [he’ll] be that in Phoenix to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.”

Now, getting him to Phoenix is a different, incredibly difficult challenge. The Suns are strapped for assets, and the Heat aren’t interested in Bradley Beal, who would have to be involved for this big-money deal to work. Having said that, the Suns do have a potentially juicy 2031 first-rounder to trade, and they have discussed using it to help acquire Butler, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, so maybe the situation isn’t entirely hopeless.

Finding a deal that works for Butler, Beal (who has a no-trade clause), the Suns and the Heat is the Mount Everest of tall tasks. Identifying Phoenix as Butler’s best landing spot, though, isn’t all that difficult.