It doesn’t take time for the wheels of fortune to turn in the NBA. Jimmy Butler‘s current situation is a prime example of that, but not in the best way. The bubbling character has evaporated. While Emo Jimmy hasn’t made his return yet, his body language was far from what it used to be in his last appearance in front of the press where he dropped the nuclear bomb on Miami. He wants his joy of playing basketball back and instead got a suspension for 7 games. The trade now looks imminent with the only question remaining – where to? Phoenix perhaps?

That’s what the rumor mills are suggesting. And incidentally, footage from two months back is going viral on social media. The video making the rounds online shows the stark contrast between Jimmy a few months prior and the one we see now.

In the video, the Miami star is seen riding a backstage vehicle during his road trip to Phoenix in November. The 35-year-old was teasing all-comers in his signature style, but a few words in specific are the reason behind the clip suddenly going viral again. In it, Butler is heard saying, “You’re welcome, man. You get to see me today, man. Hey. You have a good day, man. Good to see you.” Pointing towards an onlooker, he kept going, “I should’ve touched you and bless you, man. Give it to you. How we doing? Hello. No autograph right now.. I’ll be back.” And those are the words right there — “I’ll be back.”

And now all the rumors are pointing towards that return. Interestingly, the Suns are the only team that could actually be interested in him but getting him is completely a different story. Thanks to Mat Ishbia’s team’s salary cap situation ($42.2 million over the first tax apron), the deal is hard to pull off. But there’s a way. Of course, there’s Klay Thompson, who would take charge now, but the team wouldn’t be able to keep rolling smoothly without their two main driving forces.

Taking a closer look at how Suns can acquire Jimmy Butler

Since Shams Charania reported about Jimmy Butler’s potential link with the Suns, the speculations never went away. Even after the online spat with Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, Jimmy coloring his hair orange, the Heat announcing they will not be trading him, the rumors still persist till this day. But the equation is all but messed up and the best bet to lank Jimmy in Phoenix is with the help of a third party.

How exactly? If a third team trades for Bradley Beal with Jimmy going to the Suns and the Heat they get two mid salary range players with a bunch of picks. Now it has to be considered that the Heat are just $8.2 million over the first apron. Without Jimmy that becomes $40 million below the apron. So the Heat can have two mid level salaries ranging between $10-20 million.

But who will be the third party in it? The teams who have the juicy picks are the Rockets, the Nets and the Pistons. The Brooklyn side is probably not considering a move for Butler in the middle of their rebuild. That leaves the Pistons who can actually pull it off and are in a much better shape than many expected them to be.

The Suns are reportedly intending to use Bradley Beal from the bench. That won’t be pleasing the 31-year-old guard, forcing him to wave his trade clause. But that’s all theories for now. For the Jimmy Butler story to actually conclude, we just might have to wait for February 6.