Is Jimmy Butler Coming To Phoenix? Suns & Jazz Shuffle First-Round Picks

by Katherine ManzJanuary 27, 2025, 1:45 pmNews >

The Phoenix Suns announced last week that they had acquired three first-round picks from the Utah Jazz in 2025, 2027 and 2029, in exchange for their own 2031 first-round pick.

The three picks coming from Utah to Phoenix will be the least favorable of the picks from the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Jazz. In essence, Utah general manager Justin Zanik is betting on the Suns to be a bad team in six years – and he’s likely right.

The Suns’ marquee players are aging. Kevin Durant turns 37 this year, and Devin Booker, currently in his prime, turns 29. Phoenix is pursuing more firepower in the hopes of chasing the championship window, which will likely cut down even further on their draft capital. No one knows what the NBA will look like in six years, but the odds of the Suns being in the midst of an arduous rebuild seem high.

And it’s that same firepower that likely led the Suns to this trade. The Miami Heat recently suspended star Jimmy Butler for missing his flight to a road trip – another hiccup in what has recently become a soap opera of a season for Butler. Trading him seems increasingly to be the only option, and one that teams looking to capitalize on its seasons will be keeping an eye on.

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Phoenix, which currently sits tenth in a tough Western Conference with a 22-21 record, certainly expanded their trade capital with the first-round swap. The Jazz, meanwhile, consolidated their picks from the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trades, and still have 11 first-round picks in the next seven years.

“The three picks we traded have no chance to be the No. 1 pick, and this one does,” Zanik explained. “We’ve always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it is also about the quality of the swings, and [the Suns’ pick] is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now.”

As for the Suns, it remains to be seen whether the pick swap will help them land Butler – and whether that move, if it occurs, will elevate them to contender status.