Jimmy Butler Is Officially Taking His Talents To The Bay Area To Join Steph Curry And The Golden State Warriors

And there it is. Took long enough, but we finally have a resolution to the Jimmy Butler Trade Saga. At this point, I figured that since Butler had burned every potential trade path to the ground he would just go back to the Heat and then get moved later this summer, but it appears Pat Riley was hellbent on shipping his ass out to anyone that would take him. It's not like he has a no trade clause, so if there was a team willing to take that risk then that's all Riley needed to hit accept on the trade and officially end the Jimmy Butler era.

The return? Not great. But when the other option is to lose even more leverage and worst case lose the asset for nothing, at least you got something. This is more about being done with Butler as it is using him as an asset to rebuild. Given his age and contract situation, this wasn't going to be so some sort of massive haul, it was going to be whatever ended up making the money work and then a pick. At least Andrew Wiggins can have some moments, that's more than Butler was giving the Heat right now so there's that.

From the Warriors' side, you only make a trade like this if you know Butler is going to extend. Despite the whole "I don't want to play in GS" thing from Butler a few days ago, when push came to shove and it was time to end this game of chicken, he committed and the rest was history

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So at the end of all this, Butler walks away with being able to play with Steph Curry and another $120M guaranteed. Kind of crazy that you can burn an organization down like that and be such a distraction and then ultimately be rewarded for it. No wonder Jimmy Butler keeps doing this shit, it works! Every single time he gets to the team he wants and the money he wants, all while never having to really play basketball. Incredible boondoggle if we're being honest, part of me can't help but respect it.

On the basketball side, it's probably the best win now help that the Warriors could give Steph Curry, and while Butler can't really shoot 3s, he's also a player who doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective. His off ball cutting should fit into how the Warriors play, and as long as you get into the Playoffs you just have to hope that Playoff Jimmy shows up. That's what this trade is really for, Playoff Jimmy. The Warriors don't do this unless Steph OK's it considering this is really all to help him, so who knows if it works. Usually the early years of the Jimmy Butler Experience are pretty good, and the Warriors could certainly use a culture/vibe shock right about now.

I think if you asked anyone when Jimmy Butler first demanded a trade where he would end up almost nobody would say the Warriors. I'm just happy we don't have to hear "reports" or "sources" anymore and we can finally put this thing to bed. Granted, we'll be right back here once he starts to get restless in GS and want a new contract, so see everyone in about 1.5 years. Good luck!