Bill Simmons Claims Jimmy Butler Will Be Traded This Week

Bill Simmons spoke on his podcast and made the claim that Jimmy Butler will be traded by the Miami Heat by the end of this week. He just mentioned it in a very blasé, cavalier way. And what's odd is that Simmons didn't elaborate much on the matter. Was this more of an uninformed prediction, or an informed comment based on his sources? We'll have to wait and find out

"The Butler trade is going to happen this week."

It's hard to decipher where Simmons is getting this information, if any, from. Perhaps he is just reading the ongoing speculation. The news surrounding Jimmy Butler has been incredibly fast, and a little difficult to keep up. So allow me to recap everything that has happened over the last few weeks.

There were rumors about Jimmy Butler being traded as early as the summer, because of Pat Riley's aggressive comments about him. On top of that, the Heat's insistence on not offering Butler a new deal, at least one that is to his liking, only made matters worse. But with the rumors surrounding the matter, the Heat put out a statement saying they wouldn't trade Butler.

Then last week, all hell broke loose, as Jimmy Butler went scorched-earth in a press conference and demanded a trade. The Heat responded by suspending Jimmy Butler for his comments in the press conference, while also declaring that they would listen to offers.

Reports then came out that the Heat were looking to get Butler off the team as soon as possible. However, another report suggested that it wasn't impossible for the Miami Heat to ignore Butler's request and hold on to him till the end of the season.

As of now, there are a few teams mentioned in the conversation for Butler's landing spot. The most prominent one has been the Phoenix Suns, with a report stating that Suns owner Mat Ishbia is willing to pay Butler exactly what he wants should a trade come to fruition.

And this evening, it was reported that the Grizzlies and the Bucks have also had talks with the Miami Heat over possibly trading for Butler. So the situation seems to be evolving, with several teams in the running.

As far as what we here at Fadeaway World think, we have come up with a few mock trades that could come to fruition and would help all the teams involved. We first saw a deal that would send Butler to the Kings to team up with fellow disgruntled star De'Aaron Fox.

Another trade idea we have involves the Grizzlies landing Butler through a three-team deal with the Pelicans. And lastly, we created a massive mock trade to send Butler to the Denver Nuggets.

Regardless of where Butler goes, this is going to be a strange saga, with many twists and turns. Even if Bill Simmons' prediction comes true, it is going to be a crazy week.