Tuesday morning in the NBA livened up very quickly after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Miami Heat are now ready to consider offers for six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA superstar Jimmy Butler.
Butler, who led the Heat to the NBA Finals as recently as 2023 and the Eastern Conference Finals the year prior, is said to prefer a win-now contender. The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors are at the top of his list.
The 35-year-old has reportedly confirmed he intends to opt out of his contract in the offseason and test free agency. As a result, there will be limited leverage for the Heat in negotiating a deal and teams will only be willing to surrender so much talent and draft capital for him because of the potential flight risk.
With that in mind, here are three destinations that could make the most sense for Butler:
Golden State Warriors
On the outside looking in, it feels like the Warriors have to find a way to bring this home. They need an All-Star talent who’s shown superstar pedigree in the postseason and Butler fits that billing to a tee. Stephen Curry was receiving plenty of scoring help from Buddy Hield early in the season but that has since faded. As currently constructed, the Warriors will struggle to score in a half-court playoff setting.
Understandably, there may be concerns over whether there’s actually room for both Draymond Green and Butler’s personalities in the locker room. That feels like it’s either going to be the most beautiful of marriages or the ugliest of divorces. The other conundrum is if there’s too much scoring that has to be given up to make the salaries work. Andrew Wiggins has to be included to make the deal fiscally feasible, and the Heat likely say no if Jonathan Kuminga isn’t included.
As the saying goes, no risk, no reward.
Possible trade:
Warriors receive: Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, Josh Richardson
Heat receive: Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton
* Trade is only possible after Dec. 15 due to Melton and Love’s inclusions
Houston Rockets
The Rockets have taken on the identity of their head coach, Ime Udoka, playing a tough, hard-nosed brand of basketball. Udoka and Butler seem as though they’d be kindred spirits, and this could be the type of move that can further accelerate Houston’s rise up the Western ranks.
While Charania did list the Rockets as a favored destination for Butler, it’s hard to envision a deal getting done since Brian Windhorst recently reported that Amen Thompson and Tari Eason are untouchable, and Jalen Green is ineligible for a trade before the deadline as he signed his three-year, $106 million extension during training camp.
Now, is Thompson or Eason considered untouchable when the name involved is Butler? Time will tell.
Possible trade:
Heat receive: Fred VanVleet, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore
Rockets receive: Jimmy Butler, Josh Richardson
Denver Nuggets
Perhaps a wildcard in all this is the Denver Nuggets. While not in a steep decline, their contender status looks murky at best with Jamal Murray’s injury woes and the losses of Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope taking a toll.
Nikola Jokic is having another MVP-caliber season but there just doesn’t seem to be enough help around him. Would the Nuggets consider bringing Butler into the fold to increase its championship odds? Murray is ineligible for trade because of the offseason extension he signed, so Michael Porter Jr. becomes the most logical carrot to dangle.
The Nuggets already struggle to get up an adequate amount of threes and this would make that matter worse, but the talent upgrade is undeniable — especially in a postseason setting.
Possible trade:
Nuggets receive: Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love
Heat receive: Michael Porter Jr., Zeke Nnaji, Dario Saric
* Trade is only possible after Dec. 15 due to Love’s inclusion
