By Sam Amick, David Aldridge, Tony Jones, Jon Krawczynski, Sam Vecenie and Rebecca Tauber

The Phoenix Suns appear to be stocking up for a Jimmy Butler trade.

In the wake of the Suns’ deal with the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, in which Phoenix tripled its lot of available first-round picks, a source close to the Miami Heat star said there is rising optimism that he’s closer to reaching his desired destination — Phoenix — as a result. Yet as has been reported for months now, that possible deal is widely expected to include Bradley Beal, the Suns guard whose no-trade clause continues to loom large in this situation.

If Beal were willing, he would likely go to a third team. Yet according to a source close to Beal, there were no talks between the Suns and Beal as of Tuesday night about the prospect of him waiving his clause.

It doesn’t add up — for now, at least — but the league-wide speculation about what might come next was in full effect because of the Suns’ latest efforts. As several rival executives indicated, Milwaukee is a team worth monitoring as the Suns continue to look for third-team partners in a Butler deal. Per league sources, the Bucks’ motives would be two-fold: Cut enough salary from their payroll to get under the second apron — the only way the Bucks can legally complete a trade while aggregating contracts — and also add a talented, highly paid player to play next to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the NBA’s top scoring duo. Whether that would be Beal, or perhaps a star like Chicago’s Zach LaVine, in other potential scenarios remains to be seen.

Earlier Tuesday, the Suns traded their 2031 unprotected first-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, league sources told The Athletic. ESPN first reported the trade.

The Suns received the least favorable of the first-round picks between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves this year and the least favorable of the Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Jazz picks in 2027 and 2029. The Cavaliers have the NBA’s best record so far this season, so the 2025 pick is likely to be at the bottom of the first round. The picks in 2027 and 2029 are also likely to be in the 20s.

How adding more first-round picks helps the Suns potentially acquire Butler

The Suns have a lot they’re trying to accomplish by the Feb. 6 trade deadline. First, of course, is figuring out a way to get Butler from Miami – but that is still contingent on getting Beal to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate any deal with the Heat, whether a two-team or multi-team deal. In the interim, Phoenix also has to find a way to move veteran center Jusuf Nurkić, and to do that, the Suns will likely have to attach a future first-round pick with him to get a team to take on Nurk’s $19.3 million for 2025-26.

With the three firsts from Utah, the Suns can now avoid the Stepien Rule and trade a first in any of the next six drafts (but, still, not in consecutive years). By turning one (unprotected) first into three picks, Phoenix has a little more flexibility to get into more potential deals — and more inventory to put into a Butler trade. — David Aldridge, senior columnist

What Utah gets out of the deal with Phoenix

After the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trades, the Jazz had been overloaded with future draft selections, with 13 more first-rounders scheduled to arrive in the next seven years prior to this deal. Already, Utah has the third-youngest team in the league based on minutes played, even with Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Drew Eubanks (all 27 or older) logging significant minutes. Utah has six players currently on the roster from the 2023 and 2024 NBA Drafts, and all of those players were 20 years old or younger to start the season.

This trade consolidates their three worst first-round picks into one potentially high-value selection: An unprotected Phoenix Suns first-rounder in 2031. The picks the Jazz sent out are likely to be No. 29 or 30 overall pick in 2025, a pick likely to be in the 20s in 2027 and another pick that should be a late first-rounder in 2029.

For the Jazz, this trade is a bet against the long-term future of the Suns after this era ends. Some league sources are highly skeptical about the longevity of this Suns era and aren’t sure they even sustain the middling level of success they’ve achieved in this Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Beal era. Even if this trade leads to the Suns acquiring the 35-year-old Butler, that could lead to further issues in the future, especially if Butler receives a contract extension upon joining the team.

On the flip side, other league sources believe Suns owner Mat Ishbia’s willingness to spend long-term will prevent the Suns from truly bottoming out.

Nevertheless, this deal is likely worth it for the Jazz if they simply receive a pick in the back half of the lottery. Anything beyond that makes it an enormous win. Additionally, if the Suns start to bottom out in a few years, this pick could become highly sought after on the trade market right around the time the Jazz expect to be competing and turning things around.

All told, it’s a deal that executives league-wide believe makes sense for Utah. — Sam Vecenie, senior NBA writer

Eric Nehm contributed to this story.

Required reading

(Photo: Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)

As the Utah Legislature’s 2025 general session begins, Utah House Democrats plan to oppose the Utah Fits All education voucher program, as well as making sure students in higher education are getting what they need and standing up for the safety and rights of everyone in Utah.

On Tuesday’s first day of Utah’s legislative session, the House minority leadership held a press conference to announce their priorities for the session.

The minority caucus has divided their priorities into five issue areas: sustainability, health and well-being, education, good governance, and inclusion and representation. They said they will oppose funding private school scholarships,

The House Minority Caucus opposes the Utah Fits All voucher program

Rep. Sahara Hayes, D-Salt Lake City, emphasized opposing the Utah Fits All voucher program as one of the caucus’ top focuses for education during this session.

“We do not believe that public dollars should be ever used to fund private businesses, particularly when it’s a lot of money,” Hayes said. We’ve put $80 million into that program so far, and there’s no accountability metrics built in.”

She said this is especially a problem when that money could go to bolstering public education. The representative shared that she sat with a group of teachers earlier this month who were pleading for better resources.

“They do not have the tools that they need right now to support their students, and it is hard for them, and it is hard for the students, and they need an increased (weighted pupil unit) in order to do the job that they are given,” Hayes said.

The House Democrats concerns over cutting higher education funding

The legislators shared their concerns with the majority party’s plan for 10% across the board cuts to higher education funding.

Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, said there is value in looking into programs at universities to see what can be changed. But, she said, it is most important to keep students’ needs at the center.

“At the end of the day, we need to focus on what’s best for students, and the fact that higher education is a critical place for students to learn critical thinking skills to make them ready, not just for the workforce, but to take on the world in general,” Dailey-Provost said.

House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, added that while we do need to open additional seats in programs like nursing and mental health, it is important that the state still allows students to have their own academic freedom to study whatever they want for however long they want.

“So I’m just really, really, really concerned about what is the true agenda?” Romero said.

House Democrats will work on LGBTQ+ issues in Utah

When asked about the caucus’ strategy to approaching proposed restrictions to the LGBTQ+ community, Hayes said they are focused on stopping bills as they come up, but that often does not work. The next step is to talk “with the speaker, with the sponsors, trying to convey why there are problems with the bill or problematic language.”

Romero emphasized that the caucus is going to stand up and fight for the rights and protections of everyone in Utah.

“We’re not going to discriminate against somebody because of who they are,” Romero said.

House Democrats are concerned about the tone used when talking about immigration

Romero said she is concerned because from a national level and on a state level as well, immigration is being equated with public safety.

The caucus is concerned about public safety and believes in holding criminals accountable for the crimes they commit. But, Romero said, they don’t care what their immigration status is, if they’re committing crimes they need to be held accountable no matter what.

Concerns about public safety should not justify criminalizing an entire community, Romero said.

“There is a tenor to the conversation that seems to insinuate that immigration and criminal behavior is the same thing, and they are not,” Dailey-Provost said.

As a part of the caucus’ focus on health and well-being they will work in improve housing in Utah

“One of the critical ways that health and safety manifests is being safely housed and having a home,” Dailey-Provost said.

The caucus wants to make sure that all individuals and families in the state have access to housing.

To do this and to address the state’s growing homelessness crisis the caucus is working with partners to decrease building costs, increase housing supply, implementing common sense density policies and address issues with institutional investors which contribute to increasing home prices.

The representatives will also work to protect unsheltered people from being targeted by organized crime.

“By providing safe housing, mental health support and addiction services, we can reduce their vulnerability and improve their safety,” Dailey-Provost said.

Associated Press

Utah Jazz (10-31, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (35-7, first in the Western Conference)

Oklahoma City; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City will try to keep its eight-game home win streak intact when the Thunder play Utah.

The Thunder are 19-6 in conference play. Oklahoma City scores 116.4 points and has outscored opponents by 12.8 points per game.

The Jazz are 1-5 against the rest of their division. Utah ranks ninth in the league with 45.4 rebounds per game. Walker Kessler leads the Jazz with 11.4.

The Thunder are shooting 47.4% from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points lower than the 47.6% the Jazz allow to opponents. The Jazz are shooting 45.6% from the field, 2.8% higher than the 42.8% the Thunder’s opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jalen Williams is averaging 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals for the Thunder.

Keyonte George is averaging 16.5 points and 5.6 assists for the Jazz.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 8-2, averaging 119.9 points, 42.8 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.7 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 49.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.5 points per game.

Jazz: 3-7, averaging 112.9 points, 47.8 rebounds, 25.6 assists, 7.1 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 113.3 points.

INJURIES: Thunder: Chet Holmgren: out (hip), Jaylin Williams: day to day (hip), Isaiah Hartenstein: out (calf), Nikola Topic: out for season (acl), Ajay Mitchell: out (toe).

Jazz: Collin Sexton: out (rest), Johnny Juzang: out (hand), John Collins: out (hip), Micah Potter: out (illness), Cody Williams: day to day (ankle), Lauri Markkanen: out (back), Jordan Clarkson: out (plantar ), Taylor Hendricks: out for season (fibula).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.