There is still a week to go before the NBA trade deadline, but some are already thinking about the summer of 2026 and are trying to prepare for it. This is the case of the Miami Heat, who are embroiled in controversy with Jimmy Butler, who the franchise has just suspended for the third time in the last month and this time indefinitely. He will miss at least five more games and it seems that he will not play for Miami again

The Suns, Bucks, Wolves and Warriors are reportedly interested in the forward, although the deal would have to include another team as taking on the forward’s salary is not easy: he is earning $48.8 million this season and has a player option for next season that would see him earn $52.4 million.

The Heat are trying to get rid of the toxic environment that has been generated with the controversies surrounding Butler, but also his high salary. The aim is to start thinking in the medium term, in the summer of 2026, when there could be free agents of the caliber of Luka Doncic.

According to the Miami Herald, the franchise intends to free up more than $80 million in salary cap space to prepare for one of the most anticipated free agencies in recent years. Therefore, in order to have a surplus, it does not want to trade Butler for players with expensive contracts that extend beyond the 2025-26 season.

Eligible for the largest contract in history

Doncic signed a $215 million, five-year extension with the Mavericks, of which he still has two and a half seasons remaining. His current salary is $43.0 million and next season it will rise to $45.9 million. The fifth year is a player option for $48.9 million. But starting next summer he is eligible for a supermax extension worth $346 million over five years, which would be the highest contract in NBA history.

It seems unlikely that Doncic will give it up on the economic side, on the sporting side, as the Mavericks have always tried to satisfy his desire to make a competitive team, and on the sentimental side, as he has always said that he feels comfortable in Dallas. In case everything goes dramatically wrong, the Heat want to be prepared.

Because, in addition, Doncic is not the only one who could be available in the summer of 2026. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jaren Jackson Jr, Damian Lillard, Trae Young and De’Aaron Fox, whose transfer is also hot in recent days, could also be available. Of all of them, the Slovenian point guard, because of his age, would be the most desirable piece for a construction around him. Probably also the most difficult to obtain.