When a superstar hits the open market, the mention of the Los Angeles Lakers as a potential destination becomes all but inevitable. Los Angeles is a franchise defined by star power, with some of the biggest names and best players in NBA history donning the purple and gold.
Unfortunately, the pursuit of big-name players has ultimately led the Lakers down a polarizing path in recent seasons.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James have already delivered a championship and a second trip to the Western Conference Finals, but the Lakers have come to regret trades for big names who ultimately struggled to ideally complement them. Even still, Los Angeles immediately sprung to mind when it was revealed that Jimmy Butler is attempting to force a trade from the Miami Heat.
Thankfully, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Butler favors the Phoenix Suns as a landing spot—to the point that rival executives are aware of his preference.
"Every high-ranking team official contacted by The Stein Line for this story shared their belief that the Suns are the destination Butler desires on the other side of his standoff with the Heat. You hear the same sentiment even from executives with teams that have been mentioned as potential Butler suitors."
In other words: The Lakers can avoid the temptation of trading for Butler due to the simple knowledge that he doesn't want to play for the franchise.
Jimmy Butler wants to be traded to one team only—and it's not the Lakers
Butler is one of the best players of his generation, as well as a future Hall of Famer. He's a five-time All-NBA honoree, five-time All-Defense selectee, and a six-time All-Star who won the 2015 Most Improved Player award and led the Association in steals in 2020-21.
Moreover, Butler has led the Heat to the NBA Finals on two different occasions and won an Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Butler is also a 35-year-old wing with nearly 32,000 minutes logged between the regular season and playoffs. He's still a high-level player, as evidenced by his 2024-25 season averages of 17.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 offensive boards, 4.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on .552/.375/.788 shooting.
Trading for Butler would require the Lakers to part with a considerable amount of assets, however, and that would simply be too difficult to justify given his age.
Players are extending their primes like never before in the NBA, but that doesn't make it a safe bet that Butler will sustain his form deeper into his 30s. Until more data can be compiled about how players age in the modern era, it's simply too risky to mortgage the future on a short-term investment.
Factor in Butler's $48,798,677 salary and the fact that he's likely to decline his player option to enter free agency and sign a multi-year deal in 2025, and the Lakers have every reason to walk away.
Thankfully, Butler has reportedly made that decision for them. Los Angeles doesn't need to agonize over the logistics of matching his $48,798,677 salary in a trade, nor the fact that a package of Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Gabe Vincent would leave them roughly $9 million shy of the mark.
Instead, the Lakers can move forward ruling Butler out as a trade target and smile knowing star-chasing will not get the best of them in 2024-25.