The Jimmy Butler trade saga has finally ended. The Miami Heat traded the 35-year-old forward to the Golden State Warriors in a multi-team deal also including the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, and Detroit Pistons. Shams Charania of ESPN broke the news.
Full Trade Details
Golden State Warriors Receive: Jimmy Butler
Miami Heat Receive: Andrew Wiggins, PJ Tucker, Kyle Anderson, 2025 Top-10 Protected First-Round Pick (GSW)
Utah Jazz Receive: Dennis Schroder
Detroit Pistons Receive: Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson
We’ve been hearing about a five-team trade for Butler for months. Most people assumed it would be so that the Phoenix Suns could land him after a relentless pursuit by the franchise. However, it seems the Suns just couldn’t find a home for Bradley Beal and had to bow out of the Butler trade race.
The Warriors have already handed Butler a contract extension, giving him a two-year, $121 million deal to make him one of the few players earning an average of over $60 million per season. He’ll be on the verge of free agency at the end of 2026-27 as a 37-year-old, so this might be his final max contract unless he achieves great things for Golden State.
Butler is averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists this season.
The Heat chose to route a lot of the incoming Warriors players to different teams, likely for salary reasons. They kept Andrew Wiggins, who’s averaging 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists amidst a solid season. He would be a great fit on the Heat and could be a major contributor if he can stay healthy and locked in.
PJ Tucker in 2025 is a choice, as the Heat would have been better off keeping someone like Dennis Schroder instead of routing him elsewhere. The first-round pick could pay dividends, as it’s the only top-10 pick protected, and the Warriors are in danger of potentially conveying a late-lottery pick to them this season.
This deal might be more expansive and we find out slowly, but it does appear like the Raptors, Jazz, and Pistons received players for free. All three teams are tanking and had space to absorb salary, with these players not impacting their winning hopes nor taking up much contract space, except the Jazz who sent PJ Tucker’s expiring to Miami.
The Pistons’ involvement is interesting. They walked out with a veteran addition like Richardson and a potential short-term shooting guard like Lindy Waters, with Jaden Ivey out injured.
This could be a league-changing trade if the Warriors or the Heat go on a late-season run. Both teams could do that with their new cores but they have a lot of lost ground to make up.
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