The latest chapter of the Jimmy Butler saga has finally come to a close.
A month after making his initial trade demand, Butler was finally moved by the Miami Heat to the Golden State Warriors. The deal wound up involving four teams where the Heat received Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, PJ Tucker, and a 2025 first round pick for their disgruntled star.
Meanwhile, the Warriors received the pest player in the deal in Butler, the Utah Jazz took in the Warriors’ Dennis Schroder fresh off his trade deadline related rant, and the Detroit Pistons acquired Lindy Waters and Josh Richardson.
Upon the completion of the trade, Butler reportedly signed the extension that the Heat refused to give him which was the initial trigger for this whole drama. The six-time NBA All-Star agreed to a two-year, $111 million deal with Golden State that runs until the end of the 2027 season.
The 35-year-old Butler joins a pair of aging stars, 36-year-old Steph Curry and 34-year-old Draymond Green, on a Warriors team that is built to win now. As presently constructed though, this Golden State team looks like nothing more than a dark horse contender in the Western Conference and their title window is unlikely to go beyond Butler’s newly inked extension.
The most important development to watch here in the coming weeks is Butler’s coexistence with Curry and Green given that he has been a ball dominant player for the better part of the past decade or since his breakout campaign in ‘14-’15. During his early days in the NBA when he was making a name for himself with the Chicago Bulls, he was an excellent off-ball cutter. If he can rediscover some of this with the Warriors, it would instantly improve his fit on this team.
It would not be surprising either if Butler, who has had his fair share of crunch time heroics over his 14-year NBA career, is handed the reins of this offense in certain late game situations. This would allow Curry to play off the ball, serving as a floor spacer and potential decoy.
The biggest variable following this trade though is an off-court one. How Butler and the equally mercurial Green get along with one another in Golden State’s locker room will be closely watched, considering that both players have a penchant for getting under others’ skin. This pairing is a WWE pay-per-view event waiting to happen which Curry will have a front row seat to, whether he likes it or not.
If this bunch does manage to get on well, it could add a decisive edge to the Warriors that allows them to overcome the limitations that come with their stars’ advanced age. The cumulative toughness and bravado of Butler and Green is unparalleled by any other duo in the NBA at the moment and this, coupled with Curry’s fading yet still very much existent greatness, gives the Warriors’ a literal and figurative puncher’s chance in every match.
Golden State’s front office should be applauded for taking this bold swing to try winning another title before Curry retires. Many choose to just fade into obscurity, but these Warriors are relentless and now have a player who perfectly embodies this in Butler.
However, history suggests that this team is destined to go down in the same vein as the 1999 Houston Rockets, 2014 Brooklyn Nets, and the 2022 Los Angeles Lakers who put together a group of past-their-prime NBA All-Stars only to fail miserably in their championship quest. These experiments tend to end on a sour note, but Curry has indeed made a career out of defying the odds, so this might just work out after all.
Only time will tell how this Butler move will work out for Golden State, but the fact of the matter is that time is definitely not on this team’s side.
It’s fair to note, though, that things have started pretty well so far. Butler is averaging 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his first two games with the Warriors – both of which ended up being double-digit wins.
