Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler
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Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat is guarded by Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania dropped a bombshell on December 10 when he reported the Miami Heat were open to listening to trade offers for All-Star wing Jimmy Butler.
NBACentral
BREAKING: The Miami Heat are open to listening to trade offers for Jimmy Butler, per @ShamsCharania
Butler is open to playing for the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors
“The Heat are open to listening to offers for Butler and making a deal if the…
The report further noted that Butler had the Warriors, Mavericks and Rockets among his preferred trade destinations.
warriorsworld
Jimmy Butler has Golden State on his list of destinations
In light of the report, ESPN’s Bobby Marks floated a Warriors trade pitch that would send Butler to Golden State in exchange for a package built around Andrew Wiggins.
Warriors would receive: Jimmy Butler
Heat would receive: Andrew Wiggins, Brandin Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton plus $6.2M salary filler
Marks explained why just the package of Wiggins, Podz and Melton won’t get the job done since both the Heat and Warriors are apron teams in the NBA’s luxury tax bracket.
“They will basically have to ship out five players to get one,” Marks said of the Warriors’ plans to acquire Butler.
Should Warriors Trade Podziemski?
Marks’ trade proposal will see the drastic move of the Warriors getting rid of Podziemski, the promising youngster they considered “untouchable” in trade talks during the 2024 offseason. According to multiple insiders, the Warriors were insistent on not trading Podz in deals for either Paul George or Lauri Markkanen.
However, a lot had transpired between the 2024 offseason and the first quarter of the 2024-25 season. For one, Podz had failed to live up to his high billing. Through 22 games, Podz was averaging 7.9 points, 3.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds while shooting a mediocre 38% from the field and 23% from three. All those counting stats were significantly down from his rookie season when he averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists and made the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team.
Furthermore, Podz had also been called out on two separate occasions by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr for his in-game mistakes, especially for fouling shooters.
“He can’t foul jump shooters,” Kerr said of Podziemski. “I love Brandin. Hell of a player. Hell of a future ahead of him. But I hope he watches this clip because he needs to hear it. He’s gotta be a smart, tough, great decision-maker. He’s very capable of it. That’s his next step.”
Steve Kerr critical of Brandin Podziemski’s decision making tonight vs Nuggets: “He can not be that guy. He can’t foul jump shooters. I love Brandin. Hell of a player. Hell of a future. But I hope he watches this clip because he needs to hear it.” pic.twitter.com/mMOXkd56Ui
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 4, 2024
Warriors Entering Win-Now Mode
Those turn of events suggested that perhaps the time had come for Warriors to cut bait with Podz, who still has a lot of trade value around the league, and instead surround Stephen Curry and Draymond Green with a veteran star such as Butler.
Based on Marks’ hypothetical Warriors trade, the one positive aspect is the franchise will get to hold onto Jonathan Kuminga, the fourth-year forward who showed a lot of promise in the early stages of the 2024-25 season.
After Kuminga dropped a career-best 33 points against the Rockets on December 5, Curry explained why the young forward had earned a longer leash from the coaching staff.
“We need him to be the best version of himself,” Curry said of Kuminga, via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole. “We have to be able to figure out whether it’s play calls, whether it’s certain rotation or lineup combinations, what can unlock his ability to get downhill, put pressure on the basket and demand attention from the defense. He’s a big weapon for us.”