When the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat completed the Jimmy Butler trade in early February, both teams were floundering in difficult and uninspiring situations.
The Warriors quickly surged with Butler to rise up the Western Conference standings and secure the seventh-seed, but the Heat continued to fall into a deeper hole and finished the regular season as the 10th-seed in the East with a 37-45 record.
However, the new-look Heat have maintained the franchise's previously strong Play-In Tournament form, stunningly reaching the playoffs with back-to-back road victories over the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.
All five players from the Warriors' mid-season trade have made the playoffs
In an outcome that appeared incredibly unlikely given the state of the respective teams at the trade deadline, all five players involved in the blockbuster deal will now feature in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Butler and Golden State will of course face the Houston Rockets in a tantalizing first-round series, having gone 24-7 with the 6x All-Star if you include Tuesday's Play-In win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center.
Andrew Wiggins will now make his first playoff appearance since 2023, with he and former Warrior teammate Kyle Anderson set to face the first-seed Cleveland Cavaliers just over two months after joining the Heat.
Wiggins played a big role in both of Miami's Play-In victories, having gone for 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on 8-of-17 shooting on Friday. Despite being a +15 in his nearly 43 minutes, the Heat were still forced to overtime where they outscored the Hawks 17-8. That performance came after another 20-point, nine-rebound game against the Bulls 48 hours earlier.
After being largely out of Steve Kerr's rotation with Golden State, Anderson is playing a reasonable bench role for Miami behind the starting front court duo of Bam Adebayo and Kel'el Ware. The veteran forward played over 22 minutes and was a +15 in Chicago on Wednesday, before going for five points, two assists and two blocks in nearly 12 minutes against the Hawks.
The Warriors and Heat weren't the only two teams involved in the deal though, with the Detroit Pistons also taking on former Golden State pair Dennis Schroder and Lindy Waters III. Schroder has played a meaningful, 25-minute per game role with the Pistons since the trade, helping them to the sixth-seed in the East where they'll now meet the Milwaukee Bucks in the first-round.
It means that of Golden State's opening night roster back in October, only De'Anthony Melton and Reece Beekman won't be in the playoffs after they were sent to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the initial trade for Schroder in December.
The playoffs will officially begin on Saturday, before the Warriors start their campaign in Game 1 against the Rockets at Toyota Center on Sunday.