It had become obvious that the Golden State Warriors were after a big move in recent days, and they eventually got just that with a huge deal for Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler on Wednesday.
Butler joins the Warriors along with a new two-year, $112 million contract extension, with the Warriors giving up Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, Lindy Waters III and a top 10 protected 2025 first-round pick in a deal that's still yet to be fully finalized.
Warriors take an almighty but necessary risk with Jimmy Butler
While their first preference may have been Kevin Durant, Golden State have picked a lane and are sticking to it in prioritizing the Stephen Curry window. That in itself will be good news for a lot of fans, with the Warriors now going forward with an experienced trio of Curry, Butler and Draymond Green.
That's not to say the franchise has relinquished its future in this move though, albeit it will be intriguing to see if more moves are to come. The Warriors still retain all their young players as of right now, most notably Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski.
There's also enough of a protection on their 2025 first-rounder to avoid disaster if things go wrong, with Butler having been limited to just 25 games so far this season due to injury and more recently his multiple suspensions with the Heat.
A NEW BIG THREE IN THE BAY 🤝
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 6, 2025
Jimmy Butler is a Golden State Warrior 😲 pic.twitter.com/LsQzMOhPg3
Investing in three players each in their mid 30's certainly presents its issues, but there's no doubt that Butler will provide the secondary scoring and shot creation that Golden State have desperately lacked next to Curry.
The 6x All-Star has averaged at least 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in each of his previous four seasons, giving the Warriors the sort of 20-point go-to scorer they've so often lacked in recent years.
Summary:
Investing a new two-year, $112 million extension in Butler is a major risk in itself, but it was probably a bigger risk to let him enter free agency and potentially walk for nothing in the offseason which would have been a disaster.
For all the off-court antics that we've seen with Butler throughout the years, he should be an immediate on-court upgrade from Wiggins even despite the 2022 All-Star's impressive bounce-back season. Schroder, Anderson and Waters were all bench players for Steve Kerr over recent weeks, with the latter two out of the rotation entirely.
Golden State should get a motivated Butler who will hopefully be determined to prove to Miami that they were wrong in not offering the contract extension he was after. This acquisition undoubtedly comes with risk given the age, injury history and new contract, but it's one that the Warriors