The Miami Heat can now rest easy. One trade request and three suspensions later, the Jimmy Butler trade saga ended last night, as the Heat sent him to the Warriors in a massive four-team trade that also included the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz.
Miami received Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, P.J. Tucker, and a protected 2025 first round pick. The Pistons received Lindy Waters and Josh Richardson, while the Jazz received Dennis Schroder, who they are not expected to keep.
Golden State had been probing the market for an All-Star for the last month to pair with Stephen Curry, and they landed on Butler, who immediately signed a two-year contract extension with the team.
The Warriors need Butler to compete while the Miami Heat can finally reset.
Butler is having a down year by his standards, as he is only averaging 17 points per game, five rebounds, and five assists. He is shooting a career-high 54 percent from the field and is shooting nearly 72 percent at the rim.
Butler is known not to be an elite three-point shooter, but that doesn’t matter with Curry in the fold. He just has to come in and be the slashing playmaker the Warriors desperately need. Butler will likely be motivated to show the league that he’s still got it, and we have seen what a motivated Butler can do.
As for Miami, they get back two win-now pieces in Wiggins and Anderson and reunite with Tucker. The Heat likely won’t be competing for a title this season but will be pushing to make the playoffs, as if they don’t, the Thunder will own their first-round pick.
Wiggins gives them two-way versatility on the wing and slots in nicely with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Miami also acquired a first-round pick, which they can use to add another young piece to their core or use in future trades. Ending the Butler saga before the deadline was their goal, and they accomplished that. Now, they can officially move forward with Herro and Adebayo as their duo.
Both teams got what they wanted in this trade and can now move forward in their respective seasons. This is about the closest thing we have seen to a win-win at this trade deadline.