After the surprising Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers last weekend, any movement in the NBA transfer market seems minor. This Wednesday, however, another big-ticket transfer was agreed. Jimmy Butler, the 35-year-old star of the Miami Heat, leaves the team for the Golden State Warriors. In exchange, the Florida team receives the Canadian forward Andrew Wiggins, 29, who was part of the team that won the championship ring with Stephen Curry as leader in 2022.
Butler’s departure in the winter transfer window, which closes this Thursday at 3:00 p.m. in Washington, was a foregone conclusion. The player had declared himself in rebellion, had fallen out of favor and was suspended indefinitely by the Heat. The situation was unsustainable. Butler is a player of undeniable talent, but his high salary and age made his signing somewhat less attractive. In the end, in a complex operation involving five teams, the pieces have ended up fitting together and the Heat have made the most of their star’s departure.
To get Butler, the Golden State Warriors give Wiggins, Kyle Anderson (a 2.06-meter, 31-year-old forward), German point guard Dennis Schröder, 31, and a protected first-round draft pick. Schroder, however, ends up with the Utah Jazz, who give Miami P.J. Tucker, a 39-year-old power forward who recently arrived from the Clippers, where he was not playing this season. The agreement, announced by ESPN, also includes the Detroit Pistons, who receive guards Lindy Waters III, from the Warriors, and Josh Richardson, from the Heat, both of whom are marginal presences on their teams.
Butler, a six-time All-Star, has signed a two-year, $121 million contract extension with the Warriors, meaning he will play in San Francisco through the 2026-2027 season. The player himself has given a sort of musical confirmation of his move by tweeting a song: “Welcome to the Wild, Wild West.”
For the guard, the Warriors will be his fifth NBA team. In the previous four, his departure has been stormy, with clashes with coaches, teammates and managers. Earlier this year, the Heat suspended him and announced that they would listen to offers to trade him after he himself made it clear that he did not want to continue with the team.
“What do I want to happen? I want to see how I get the joy of playing basketball back, and wherever that is, we will know very soon. I want to get my joy back. I am happy here off the court, but I want to be dominant again, I want to shoot and I want to help this team win. Right now, I am not doing that.” The journalists then asked him if he thought he could regain that joy in Miami and he replied succinctly: “Probably not.”
This was Butler’s sixth season with the Miami Heat. During that period, the team reached two NBA finals, in 2020 against the Lakers and in 2023 against the Nuggets, but lost both. In the last playoffs, the team fell in the first matchup against the Celtics, with Butler injured throughout the series. This season, the Heat are seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, partly penalized by the limited participation of their star. Before arriving in Miami, the 2.01-meter-tall player played six seasons for the Chicago Bulls – who selected him 30th in the 2011 draft – a little more than one with the Minnesota Timberwolves and less than one with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The player joins a Warriors team that is tenth in the Western Conference and will have to fight to get into the postseason. That is where Jimmy Playoff Butler usually shines the most. Of course, he will have to resign himself to not being the star of the team. The undisputed idol of the Golden State Warriors is Stephen Curry, 36 years old. With both on the court, the Warriors will have a powerful outside game. Draymond Green, 34 years old, is the other survivor of the team that was dominant for a good part of the past decade. It will be a veteran team, perhaps too much so.
Butler’s signing, on the other hand, silences the rumors of Kevin Durant being traded to the Warriors, who seemed to be the first option for the team coached by Steve Kerr.
Despite being chosen number 1 in the 2014 draft, Wiggins has shown less performance and quality than Butler, number 30 in the 2011 selection. Of course, he is younger and has a lower salary. The Heat also get P.J. Tucker and Kyle Anderson (both likely to be backups), plus the aforementioned draft pick. It’s a reasonable deal for Florida considering the weak position they entered the negotiation with. Now they’ll have to see how he fits into the team.
