Both of those men probably would have preferred to team up with Kevin Durant — and both their organizations tried to make that happen — but in the end they are together. And this could work. Jimmy Butler will be traded to the Golden State Warriors as the blockbusters keep on coming in what has been one of the wildest NBA trade deadlines ever.
Let’s look at the winners and losers from another mind-blowing trade around the NBA, starting with how the trade itself shakes out:
Golden State receives: Jimmy Butler
Miami receives: Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, P.J. Tucker, Warriors 2025 first-round pick (top-10 protected, or it becomes 2026 top 10 protected; it likely conveys this June)
Detroit receives: Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson (there will be a draft pick attached to this as well)
Utah receives: Dennis Schroder, 2031 second-round pick.
This entire Jimmy Butler soap opera was about money — and Butler got paid.
At the start of last offseason, Jimmy Butler was looking for a contract extension with the Heat, and not only did Pat Riley not give it to him, Riley said publicly: “That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who’s going to be there and available every single night. That’s the truth.”
Shots fired. Based on Butler’s history in Minnesota and Philadelphia, Riley should have realized what was coming and traded Butler over the summer. He did not. The result was a predictable, messy soap opera once this season got rolling, as Butler eventually tried to force his way to Phoenix — in part because who doesn’t want to play with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but also because Suns owner Mat Ishbia said he would pay Butler. The plan might have worked if it had not been for the Bradley Beal roadblock.
