Jimmy Butler's efforts to force his way off the Miami Heat have proved fruitless thus far. But it's early days yet. It's been about a month since rumors first popped up that Butler wanted a trade and less than a week since he made it public before getting suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. The list of possible trade partners, however, grows narrower by the day.
Initial reports suggested Butler would play literally anywhere else. But Tuesday brought conflicting reports suggesting Butler's camp has dissuaded two championship contenders from trading for him in the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies. Later on Tuesday, another potential Butler trade had cold water splashed on it as ESPN insider Marc J. Spears revealed the Golden State Warriors had different plans in mind for this trade season than working on a big swing for Butler.
"I'm hearing that the Warriors literally want to go bigger than Butler," Spears said on NBA Today. "What I mean by that is they're one of the most undersized teams in the league. So they're trying to get a big guy to go alongside Draymond Green. People on their list include Nikola Vučević, who has probably been, maybe the top guy on that list. He can shoot threes, play inside, he makes $20 million as opposed to the $48 million Jimmy makes.. Right now the Warriors seem much more interested in adding a big to go alongside Green than another shooting guard."
One can see the vision from a roster construction angle. Golden State doesn't have a "traditional" center good enough to earn more than 20 minutes per game right now. The closest the roster has is Trayce Jackson-Davis, clocking in at 19.5 MPG, but at 6'9" he's more of a tweener. Steve Kerr has decided Kevon Looney, the only real 7-footer on the team, tops out at around 15 minutes per contest. Having an elite center isn't as important as it once was, but the Warriors lack size in the front court and that's a problem over the course of a long, physical season.
On the other hand, a case can easily be made that the Warriors should focus on giving Steph Curry the best possible chance at another title and that means ignoring roster "needs" to acquire talent. Talent like Butler. He may not be the best fit in the Warriors' system but he is the only true needle-mover who can be acquired mid-season barring something unforeseen.
With about a month to go before the deadline in February, it doesn't seem like the Dubs will be throwing caution to the wind to acquire Butler.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Insider Identifies Warriors' Preferred Trade Over Jimmy Butler Acquisition .
