The Miami Heat have been in the news cycle with Jimmy Butler trade rumors perpetually notifying people of the ongoing saga between the disgruntled star and the franchise. Last year, around the NBA trade deadline,

As the saga between Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat continues to play out publicly, there is at least some clarity on what the Heat are looking for in

For sure, some people are not gonna say they do, but I think we all do. We’re humans, it’s part of it. You know, you want the best for yourself. You wanna come out there and show the fans why this trade happened and stuff like that.

Q: Would current offers duplicate what the Heat has already? The rumored swaps offer marginal upgrades over what’s in the development pipeline. Are Heat going to take Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Haywood Highsmith, Terry Rozier, Duncan Robinson, Alec Burks out of the rotation? Or stop developing Pelle Larsson? – Leonard, Charlotte.

Just before the start of Tuesday night’s matchup between the Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers at Kaseya Center, news surfaced that indicated the Phoenix Suns are stocking up for a potential Butler trade.

The Suns want Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler wants to be on the Suns. But making that happen is a long process that features a lot of variables.

Miami will suspend Butler for two games, ESPN's Shams Charania reports. According to Charania, Butler missed a team flight Wednesday, so the Heat will respond with a two-game suspension that will force him to miss Thursday's game against the Bucks and Saturday's game against the Nets.

Even as Jimmy Butler wants to get out, even as the Miami Heat want to get him out, the reality is that there might not be an easy out . . . as the NBA counts down to the 3 p.m. Feb. 6 NBA trading

Butler has not backed off his trade request since it became public at the beginning of January, which has led to a staring contest between him and the Heat. This could end with Butler rejoining the Sixers, but new intel from reporter Marc Stein would indicate that one particular Sixer may not want to rejoin forces.

If the Heat keeps Butler past Feb. 6 and he opts out, Miami could either use a $14 million midlevel exception and a $5.1 million bi-annual exception or use about $13 million in cap space (which swells to $23 million if Robinson is released early this summer).

The Heat are expected to suspend Butler for their next two games after he missed a team flight Wednesday, Shams Charania of ESPN reports.