Reports: Warriors acquire Jimmy Butler from Heat in multi-team trade

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

Jimmy Butler has gotten his wish. He’s being traded out of Miami.

The Heat and the Golden State Warriors have agreed on a deal that sends Butler to the Bay Area, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday. The trade ends a Miami era for Butler that will be remembered first for two trips to the NBA Finals and then three suspensions toward the end of a hostile breakup.

Golden State is making it happen by moving Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and first-round draft compensation out in the deal, said a source, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not gotten league approval.

Wiggins is staying in Miami and, for now, Anderson is as well, the source said. Schroder is getting moved to Utah – where the Warriors, coincidentally, were Wednesday night – and Josh Richardson is heading from Miami to Detroit as part of the deal. Also on the move: P.J. Tucker, who hasn’t played yet this season, was just traded from the Clippers to Utah on Saturday and now is set to rejoin the Heat.

The Heat will get a protected first-rounder from Golden State; for now, that is a pick in this year’s draft though that could change based on final terms. And ESPN reported that Butler has already agreed on a two-year contract extension with the Warriors, one that would be worth around $120 million.

The trade makes March 25 a very significant day – Golden State at Miami, the first time Butler could play again in South Florida.

Golden State becomes Butler’s fifth team, after stints in Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Miami. His arrivals were celebrated in all four cities, and his departures weren’t exactly smooth in any of them.

But with the Warriors, he joins Steph Curry and Draymond Green – the two players left who have been part of all four recent Golden State title teams, with hopes of getting back to title contention.

The Warriors had a closed-door meeting in the locker room Wednesday as news of the trade was getting out; Coach Steve Kerr met with the team during the period that the room is typically open to reporters before games.

Butler’s breakup with the Heat brewed for months. The primary issue that caused the beginning of the end of his Miami stint was money; he’s eligible for a two-year, $113 million extension and the Heat never offered such a deal, largely because he’s missed about 25% of the team’s games since he arrived in 2019.

There were other factors as well. Neither side was particularly happy with the other at the end, and it became evident that the fracture couldn’t be repaired. When he said he didn’t expect to find on-court joy with the Heat again in early January, he was suspended for seven games as the last straw on a list of what the team called detrimental conduct.

That was the start of a wild ending: Butler was suspended three times in January alone, the second a two-game ban for missing a team flight, the last an indefinite one of at least five games that followed him leaving shootaround early after learning he wasn’t going to start a Jan. 27 game against Orlando.

“There was a lot said by everybody, except for me, to tell you the truth,” Butler said after his first game back following the first suspension. “We’ll let people keep talking. … The whole truth will come out.”

He never said he wanted a trade; at least, not openly, because it’s not allowed by league rule and would have subjected him to a fine of up to $150,000. The Heat said Butler asked for one and when that was revealed the team also changed course from team president Pat Riley’s December vow not to trade him; when the suspension was announced, the Heat said they were trying to make a trade happen.

But there were obvious signs; his hair color for some games just happened to be in the colors of Phoenix, Dallas, Golden State and Houston – the four teams that were most prominently mentioned as possible trade partners for Miami. For at least one game, Butler also wore shoes that perfectly matched the Suns’ color scheme.

Butler is averaging 17 points per game this season. He had one of the best statistical games in Heat history against Detroit on Dec. 16 – 35 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists.

It was never the same again. In his six appearances following that Detroit game, including one where he departed in the first quarter with an illness, Butler averaged 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft, has averaged 18.5 points in 11 seasons – first with Minnesota, then Golden State.

The Heat-Butler marriage wasn’t always bad, of course. Butler arrived to fill Dwyane Wade’s spot as the star of the team, the face of the franchise. He even got Wade’s former locker space. He was an All-Star twice in Miami, helped the Heat to the NBA Finals in the bubble in 2020 and then as a No. 8 seed in 2023 and turned in some epic postseason performances. There have been 18 40-point games in Heat playoff history; Butler is responsible for eight of them, including a team-record 56 against Milwaukee in 2023.

One of the last times Butler was seen as a member of the Heat was at a padel tournament on Jan. 25, which essentially became his farewell to Miami.

“I love this city with everything that I have,” he said that day.

Two days later, he was suspended by the Heat for the third and final time. And now, his Heat era is over.

AP sports writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco and AP writer John Coon in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.