Separated by only a half-game in the standings, the 24-23 Golden State Warriors and 24-22 Phoenix Suns face off each other in a game that comes with a lot of intrigue.
Between tonight’s matchup and next week’s NBA trade deadline, that close gap separating the two franchises could widen with a blockbuster Jimmy Butler trade.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Warriors and the Suns are “heating up” to be the likely landing spots for the disgruntled Miami Heat star.
“Miami and Jimmy Butler, they have the same goal right now, between now and next Thursday, and that’s finding a trade for Butler out of Miami,” Charania said on the “Pat McAfee” Show. “They are in active conversations.
“Tonight actually on ESPN, I would call it ‘The Jimmy Butler Bowl.’ I know we got the Super Bowl next weekend, but this might be ‘The Jimmy Butler Bowl’ tonight between the Warriors and the Suns.”
The Warriors are back in the mix in the Butler trade conversations, per Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, after the Heat lowered their asking price, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, in their effort to finally end the drama that has become a distraction in their playoff chase.
Both teams are facing complicated paths to trading for Butler.
The Suns have one big problem: Bradley Beal, their only trade chip who can match Butler’s salary, is unwilling to waive his no-trade clause.
On the other hand, the Warriors have a cleaner path salary matching-wise to landing Butler but they have their concerns of their own.
Warriors’ Concerns About Jimmy Butler Trade
According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II, the Warriors have concerns about Butler’s fit to their culture with his volatile behavior.
“The Warriors already have a mercurial player in Draymond Green — though he usually gets along with those types (see Chris Paul and DeMarcus Cousins) — and adding Butler raises the combustion possibilities,” The Athletic report said.
Butler has always worn his welcome in all his stops from Chicago to Minnesota to Philadelphia and now Miami. It all did not end well as what is unraveling in Miami.
O’Connor confirmed The Athletic report and went on to add more interesting details. He pointed to Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry as the people within the Warriors organization who are most concerned about Butler’s potential impact on the Warriors’ locker room.
“My league sources say that Stephen Curry, specifically, has concerns about Jimmy Butler’s fit in the locker room,” O’Connor said on his ‘The Kevin O’Connor Show’ podcast. “And Steve Kerr shares those feelings. So, Golden State’s indecision about trading for Butler seems to be largely tied to Steph and Kerr’s worries about a personality fit…It should surprise nobody if the Warriors end up holding onto their pieces and waiting for the summer.”
Trade That Could ‘Affect the Outcome of this Season’
Butler is a ceiling-raiser to whoever team can get him, especially at a bargain price.
That’s what Windhorst firmly believes — a Butler trade at a cheap could significantly alter the NBA landscape and potentially the outcome of this season.
“I think we might see a team swoop in here and get Jimmy Butler at a cheap price, a guy who can be the best player in a playoff series at a bargain price,” Windhorst said on SportsCenter. “And I think that’s the phase of this where we’re at.
“And so a team, if a team pulls that off, and I’m not going to tell you the teams that are trying because I just can’t wade into those waters. This could be a trade that affects the outcome of this season.”
That’s why the Warriors and the Suns, two teams whose championship hopes are fading in the strong Western Conference, are in a tug-of-war for Butler’s services.
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