The Miami Heat are reportedly listening to offers for veteran forward Jimmy Butler and willing to make a deal if the proposal is reasonable, league sources informed ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday.
Heat Trade Rumors: Jimmy Butler Is Interested In Joining The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Or Golden State Warriors
Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, has also informed teams that Butler is open to joining a Texas-based franchise, such as the Houston Rockets or Dallas Mavericks, or playing for the Golden State Warriors.
Per Charania’s report, teams have also been informed that Butler intends to opt out of his deal in the offseason and become a free agent. The Heat are open to trade inquiries since they have underperformed the last two seasons.
Miami took Butler’s contract into consideration as well. The six-time All-Star has $49 million on his contract for this season, with a $52 million player option for 2025-26. The sides did not reach an extension last summer.
Of the interested teams, Golden State may have the best shot of landing Butler. Although the Marquette product is a Texas native, the Warriors are more likely to pull off such a trade. Klay Thompson’s exit helped out a bit financially.
“Sources said the Warriors are looking to add a star player — a playmaker, scorer — alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Golden State pursued Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen and Paul George as a free agent last offseason, and is expected to remain aggressive this deadline,” Charania wrote.
Warriors Could Trade Buddy Hield, Andrew Wiggins
George agreed to a four-year, $212 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers in July. Markkanen then went on to sign a four-year, $195.86 million contract extension in August. This means he cannot be traded until next offseason.
“A telltale moment happened for the Warriors on Friday night, when Curry, Green and coach Steve Kerr spoke about this being fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga’s time to take the mantle and Green accepted a bench role for Kuminga to start at power forward,” Charania added
Assuming Golden State trades neither Green nor Kuminga, that leaves Buddy Hield ($8.8 million), who will become trade eligible on Dec. 15, and Andrew Wiggins ($26.3 million) among others.
Gary Payton II ($9.1 million), Kevon Looney ($8 million), De’Anthony Melton ($12.8 million), and Kyle Anderson ($8.8 million) are the Warriors’ other trade-eligible players.
Golden State Can Trade A Maximum Of Three First-Round Draft Picks
Moses Moody has a poison pill, which means his incoming salary counts as $10.8 million, and his outgoing salary is $5.8 million. Overall, Golden State can put together an enticing trade package for Butler.
The Warriors can trade a maximum of three first-round draft picks in a deal: 2026, 2028, and 2030 (if 1-20). However, Golden State’s post transactional trade/signings cannot exceed the first apron.
Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, 87% of NBA players can be traded beginning Dec. 15. In the 2023-24 regular season, 20 of the 27 trades occurred during deadline week.
The 2024-25 NBA trade deadline is Feb. 6, 2025, at 3 p.m. ET.
