Jimmy Butler is once again at the forefront of the NBA drama. The Pat Riley-led franchise suspended him for the third time this month after the athlete left the shootaround practice Monday morning, right before the game against the Orlando Magic. The team deemed this as “intentionally withholding services”. Without Butler, the Heat rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter and managed to defeat Orlando 125-119 in double overtime.

“What it means right now is just we proved to ourselves that we have a tremendous amount of grit,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra shared. However, the franchise’s harsh statements against Butler are not being met with a positive mindset by fans and analysts. Brian Windhorst, for instance, expressed surprise that the Heat franchise took the bold step of suspending him again.

Butler, has his share of supporters, especially in the form of Stephen A. Smith who did not mince his words, calling out Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra for provoking the athlete (Butler walked out of practice after he was informed in front of his teammates he was set to be dropped). Adding to the bandwagon is Tim Hardaway Sr.

Weighing into the drama, Hardaway Sr. placed the blame fully on Riley for escalating things out of control. “That’s Pat’s fault to me”, said Hardaway Sr. on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis when Green asked if Butler wasn’t being part of the Heat culture anymore.

“You let him fly on your his own private jet different places and he had beat the team for shoot around. You let that stuff get out of hand. You let Jimmy Butler come in and say this and that you know this and that. You let it get out of hand… He deserves his money. Everybody deserves their money, all right? But you can’t play 60% of the games and I’m in the playing game and then we got to work just as hard to get to where we need to get to. I need to not be in a playing game, I need to be sick if he play 75, 73,” he continued.

Per multiple reports, Butler was suspended earlier this month after the team waited for him on the plane, but he never showed up. Owing to this, the player was slapped with a two-game ban.

While Riley got criticized for letting Butler be himself, people need to be aware of how calculated the moves were, which actually paid off for the franchise. He brought in his intensity and competitiveness to help the team reach finals and the playoffs in the past. But what’s ahead?

According to Hardaway, it’s on Butler to take the first step, saying, “It’s up to Jimmy. I still think it could work, man. I think, you know, Herro, Bam, and those guys have to come Jimmy and be like, ‘Yo, Jimmy man, we need you, man.’ Just, just come out here and just um play and let the chips fall where they going to fall.”

The message from Hardaway is clear: Butler needs to set aside the personal drama and simply focus on playing basketball. But where will he play basketball?

Jimmy Butler’s former franchise could swoop him up…

As Miami lowers its asking price, more teams could join the talks. ESPN’s Windhorst shared on SportsCenter that “The Heat are really, really trying to make this happen” and noted that their trade expectations have become more flexible. This shift could open the door for teams that were previously hesitant.

One team that might be more interested now is the Minnesota Timberwolves. SNY’s Ian Begley reports that the Heat showed interest in Julius Randle over the summer and have kept him on their radar during the Butler trade saga. “I don’t know if there are any active trade talks between Minnesota and Miami, but the two teams have been in touch on Butler trades,” Begley said.

At 30, Randle has been a solid frontcourt scorer for the Timberwolves, putting up 18.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists this season. With Minnesota looking to contend in the loaded Western Conference, they might see Butler as a good fit if they move Randle.

For Miami, adding Randle would give them a reliable scorer to pair with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, while also ending the Butler saga. If a deal goes down, expect Butler and some draft picks to be involved. Who knows, Randle could be the piece that gets Miami back into playoff contention.

In fact, changes could happen in the coming days. As per reports, Butler doesn’t want to play in Miami; he wants to be traded—that too before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. If this doesn’t take place, he could use his $52.4 million player option next season to leave Miami.