Will the Golden State Warriors trade for Jimmy Butler? The answer will come down to the wishes of Stephen Curry.
I reported on Tuesday morning that the Warriors were back in the mix for Butler now that the Heat have dropped their asking price. Then on Wednesday, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson added intriguing details, noting the Warriors’ initial reluctance due to concerns across every level of the organization about price tag and potential “combustion.”
My league sources confirm these hesitations, revealing Curry himself has reservations about Butler’s fit in the Warriors’ locker room — a sentiment shared by head coach Steve Kerr. Their worries stem from Butler’s tumultuous history with previous teams:
In Chicago, Butler clashed with multiple teammates, including Joakim Noah and Rajon Rondo, and publicly slammed his head coach Fred Hoiberg.
In Minnesota, there was the infamous practice incident where he yelled at teammates, coaches and executives before conducting an interview with Rachel Nichols.
In Philadelphia, he refused to shoot 3-pointers because of his issues with Brett Brown’s offensive system.
And now in Miami, he’s feuding with Pat Riley, missing flights and disrespecting his teammates.
It’s no wonder Curry would be unsure about wanting Butler in the same locker room as Draymond Green, who has his own unique brand of team chemistry roulette. Are we really ready for the Draymond-Jimmy Buddy Cop movie? Curry’s probably having nightmares of Butler yelling, “You f***ing need me!” while Green’s busy recording his next podcast rant.
I would not trade for Butler if I were the Warriors. As much as he’d help the team as a versatile defender and a downhill attacker, adding Butler’s I’m-the-captain-now energy to a ship that’s barely staying afloat is a bad idea compared to other routes for the Warriors. Blowing it up would be a more sensible long-term approach, as I wrote in-depth about last week. So would staying patient and waiting until the offseason to find out what other opportunities are available. Who knows? If the Suns implode, maybe Kevin Durant would want to move to the Bay Area.
It’d be one thing if Butler were easily acquirable, but he makes $48 million this season. The Warriors would need to give up Andrew Wiggins and some combination of important players to make any deal work financially, such as Gary Payton II, Kyle Anderson and Jonathan Kuminga. As Green himself said on his podcast, trading for a player making that much money is a challenge.
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The Heat have lowered their asking price for Butler because they’re tired of his act, and they’d like to get something in return instead of letting him walk in free agency for nothing. There’s a fear in Miami that the Nets could absorb salaries this offseason to free cap space for a team, such as the Rockets, to outright sign Butler.
But if the Warriors bypass the opportunity to trade for Butler, and if the Suns can’t find a team willing to take on Bradley Beal, then what happens for the Heat? Maybe the Bucks re-enter the sweepstakes. Or maybe the Rockets decide to make a splash now instead of waiting for free agency. But executives around the NBA keep pointing to Memphis.
It’s been widely reported the Grizzlies were informed that Butler doesn’t want to play there. But they still keep popping up as the team that could end up with Butler in return for what Miami desires: short-term salaries and headache relief.
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