The Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade eclipsed everything else that occurred at the NBA trade deadline, but before Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison blew up the internet, Jimmy Butler was the unquestioned main character of trade season.
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That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as Butler feuded with the Miami Heat in an attempt to force his way out of town. After the Phoenix Suns tried in vain to acquire him, he eventually landed with the Golden State Warriors.
Doncic has had an enormous impact on the Lakers, but given the way the Warriors have turned their season around since Butler arrived, it’s impossible to argue that even the Slovenian superstar has had a bigger impact on his new team than Butler has.
The Athletic published a story today by Anthony Slater about Butler’s impact on the Warriors and how the trade for him went down behind the scenes. It contains some fascinating nuggets about the process, including the news that both Steve Kerr and Steph Curry wondered how Butler would fit into the culture they’d worked so hard to cultivate.
In the end, it was general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., a former teammate of Butler’s, who vouched for his character and convinced Golden State that trading for Butler and giving him a two-year, $111 million extension would be all the motivation he needed to help the team win.
The results have spoken for themselves, as Golden State is 16-3 in games that Butler has played in since coming over. He’s flipped the switch to again look like an All-Star, while reinvigorating Curry in the process.
The Dubs’ run of excellent play has vaulted them up the standings, from 10th place and a game under .500 before the trade to sixth place and three games out of the No. 4 seed.
The Warriors are contenders in the West because of Jimmy Butler
Golden State will still be fighting an uphill battle to get back to its seventh NBA Finals of the Kerr-Curry-Draymond Green era. The West is loaded with quality teams; first and foremost is the first-place Thunder, who are going to wind up with over 60 wins on the year.
Still, the fact that the Warriors have any chance at all is a testament to what an instant impact Butler has made.
Butler will return to Miami for the first time since the trade on Tuesday night to take on his old team. He indicated recently that facing the Heat was just another game, saying, “That’s so far behind me now. I don’t even think about it. I don’t pay attention to nothing except for the trajectory of this squad.”
Given Butler’s history of acrimonious divorces, it’s kind of tough to take this statement at face value. There has to be at least a little part of Butler that wants to show Heat president Pat Riley what he’s missing out on, and he may have a chance to do it in a big way since Steph Curry’s status is in question as he continues to deal with a pelvic bruise that kept him out of Saturday’s loss to the Hawks.
Whether Curry plays or not, Butler’s South Beach return means that Warriors-Heat will be absolute cinema. Fans can check it out on TNT at 7:30 p.m. ET.
