Time to cue up another viral Jimmy Butler meme. Pretty much everyone has seen the one where Jimmy holds a sheet of paper in front of his face with a surprised look. Guess his reaction will be the same after the latest news reaches him. Butler is getting to know exactly what happens after crossing Pat Riley. His 7-game suspension and a smack of a $2.3 million payday weren’t enough. The Heat is in all-out attack mode against the 35-year-old superstar.

According to Chris Haynes, the franchise is looking to turn their punishment up a notch. Speaking on Haynes Brief, the insider dropped another bombshell in this developing saga. “League sources informed me that the Miami Heat considered changing the designation of Jimmy Butler’s suspension from ‘conduct detrimental to the team’ to ‘refusing to provide services’. Now such a change would double the fine tally for Jimmy. I’m told the designation is the same as of right now, but it is fluid,” Haynes said. But that’s not it. The eventful day in the league added another layer to the story.

As per salary cap guru, Bobby Marks, 96% of the league is now trade-eligible. Among those meeting the eligibility criteria are the Heat’s Haywood Highsmith and the Suns’ Josh Okogie. Given the Phoenix side’s interest in Jimmy on the mutual ground, this could be of some significance in the trade possibility.

But coming back to the Jimmy Butler issue, there were some other elements to the whole fiasco that recently came to light. Chris Haynes indicated on the LeBatard Show how lack of communication between the player and the franchise caused the rift. “There was something else that rubbed Jimmy the wrong way toward the end of last summer,” Haynes told the podcast hosts. “Jimmy and his camp were informed of an accounting error toward the end of last summer, he didn’t get his paycheck on that period. It took the team about ten days to fix it, but that had never happened before.”

Jimmy even had a face-to-face meeting with Pat Riley on Jan 1 to reiterate his trade demand. Reports indicate that the 6-time NBA All-Star wants to be traded during his suspension period. His return date is set for Jan 16 against the Nuggets if the franchise and the player consents to playing. But that ship probably sailed a bit far as the Heat owner is getting involved in the ongoing drama.

Miami Owner wants crunch talk with Jimmy Butler amid trade rumors

The trade! The one and only truth for Jimmy Butler at this point of time. With the Suns actively looking to get the Texas born player on board, they are running into a Bradley Beal wall time and again. They need to dump the major salary of their 3rd option behind Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. A third team to facilitate the deal is yet to emerge but with Josh Okogie and Highsmith eligible for trade, some amounts can be moved to make the deal possible. How will that be approached? That’s the only puzzle to solve. But for the Miami Heat owner, Micky Arison, he needs to see a return on his investment, a $48 million investment.

According to Sun-Sentinel, Arison has called for a meeting with Butler and his representatives to hash out the situation. He wants Butler to be with the team as a paid member of the roster. This came after Jake Fischer’s story about Butler staying away from the team and taking private flights, skipping shootarounds.

Amid this vitriol, Butler’s camp has already scared off the small market teams like the Grizzlies, the Bucks and the Nuggets. His preferred destinations include two of the Texas teams and the Warriors. Stephen Curry already gave a warning to the front office, not to mortgage the franchise’s future for ambitious trade moves. And when Curry is not on board on record, Jimbo’s chances of calling the Chase Center his home evaporate a lot faster. But trade junkies can look at the bright side of it. The Butler saga is unfolding at a rapid pace every single day and maybe in the next few hours, a bumper trade news can break. At least that’s all we can hope for at this moment.