By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Jimmy Butler saga officially ends today.
In a stunning turn of events hours before the NBA Trade Deadline concludes, the Miami Heat franchise completely moved on from Butler, sending him to the Golden State Warriors announced on February 6, 2025.
According to multiple reports closely monitoring the situation, Butler’s arrival in San Francisco featured a four-team trade involving the Utah Jazz and the Detroit Pistons.
In exchange for Butler, the Warriors will be sending Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, and their 2025 first-round pick,
Meanwhile, Utah will be landing Dennis Schroder from Golden State, while the Pistons will receive Lindy Waters III and Josh Richardson.
The trade saw social media explode with mixed reactions after Butler’s current season was clouded with a series of indefinite suspensions and issues with the Heat organization.
In the past month, Butler has been suspended for a total of nine games, with seven of those conduct detrimental to the league and the last two was after missing a team flight for a road game.
Miami President Pat Riley then saw enough and was open to trade talks despite publicly announcing that he wouldn’t be dealing Butler to any other franchises a month ago.
Butler is currently having a rough start this NBA season and is only averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game in just 25 games played.
However, the scenery might change as Butler will be having a new co-star teammate in Stephen Curry, the greatest three-point shooter the NBA has ever witnessed.
The Warriors are yet to confirm how will they utilize Butler in their high-octane system that mostly involves Curry in all the off-the-curl and pick-and-roll actions.
Golden State is currently ranked 10th in the Western Conference, two places shy of barging into the sure slot for a playoff spot.
Can Butler help the Warriors rally to a final push to the playoffs? Or will his controversial season continue in San Francisco?