Seven potential trade destinations for Jimmy Butler

With a 17-9 record, the Rockets currently occupy the third seed in the Western Conference, and are very well-positioned. They have completely rejected Miami’s anti-bottoming-out approach, tanked for some high picks, then distinctly changed gear and began targeting immediate-impact young veterans. And it has worked.

It follows logically, then, that they would want to take that next step. They are good enough to have an NBA title window open right now, and if Butler needs regular season rest, the young legs on the two-timeline roster can carry the baton while he does so.

The betting markets seem to highly favour a Rockets-Butler trade, too. But not everyone agrees. Marc Stein, for one, reports that the Rockets “have not registered tangible interest” in Butler as things stand.

Houston, though, did make Butler’s list of desired destinations. If they want to add toughness, poise, fearlessness, experience, proven clutch pedigree and a two-way point forward to their already excellent defensive unit, Butler embodies that. And if they do not want to add that, perhaps they should.

Like with Houston above, Stein reports that the Mavericks have not yet had any meaningful discussions about pursuing Butler. And Stein’s connections to the Mavericks are unimpeachable.

That said, even if Dallas has yet to make an offer, perhaps they should too. Tied with the Rockets with a 17-9 record of their own, they have ridden the pairing of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to the second-best offence in the league, and are also the defending Western Conference champions.

In their Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, the Mavericks paid the price for not having a third creator. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday could switch onto the Doncic-Irving pairing, and despite their good cast of role players, they lacked the ability to blow through the concrete of the Celtics’ defense, affecting spacing and shooting and making the series frankly uncompetitive. The Mavericks therefore need a third wheel, a pick-and-roll player who can handle from both the strong and weak sides, get his own and cover ground defensively. The Mavericks, then, need Jimmy Butler. There is neither the time nor the incentive to wait for Olivier-Maxence Prosper.

Given the profound imbalance between the strengths of the NBA’s two conferences right now, the Magic are one of the few realistic options in the East right now for a Butler trade. They have the seventh-youngest team in the league, and with the exception of the Oklahoma City Thunder, are much better than all those younger than them.

On account of this youth and the potential for future internal growth that it offers, it is not time-urgent that the Magic out now. However, given that there is a sizeable gap in the Eastern Conference, between the two at the top (the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics), and the also-rans, it might behove Orlando to expedite the process. They are a team of defenders in need of an extra playmaker, and although Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black are both excellent prospects for the future (while also being good in the present), Butler represents a massive upgrade.

The Magic might choose to pass on the 35-year-old Butler, preferring to bet on the high upside of their future. And they could well be right. But if Butler is available as a floor-raising rental, as an uber-Joe Ingles, who could speed up the growth of the Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero types and show them what it takes to win without derailing the established timeline, they would be wise to explore the possibility.

Any allusions in this article to the power of star players to essentially decide their future, even via trade or through lobbying for trades of others, need only look at LeBron James as a proof of concept. If LeBron wants someone, the Lakers will listen.

There are countless examples of James paying respect to Butler over their decade-plus of going up against each other. At various times, LeBron has called him “one of the best competitors we have in our game” and a “really, really, really great player”, for whom he has “nothing but respect“. It is a sentiment echoed around the league. And yet for all their battles, the one thing Jimmy and LeBron have never done, All-Star games excepted, is pair up. It is now or never.

We should expect the Warriors to be in the running for Jimmy. For over a decade, they have been in the running for everyone.

Attempts to keep all the plates spinning in the air while their core aged past its best have seen them muddle through various fourth-and-fifth starters. Kevin Durant’s departure initially yielded D’Angelo Russell, who was later turned into Andrew Wiggins, while Jordan Poole became Chris Paul, and players such as Kelly Oubre, Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield and (most recently) Dennis Schroeder have been acquired via other deals. They are getting whatever they can via trade, rather than the draft, hoping for the right concoction of veteran reinforcements that can keep open the chance at one last title before Stephen Curry becomes too old.

There are plenty of good players in the above names, but none of them could better the team like Butler could. This is particularly true defensively, the end of the court on which the Warriors are rejuvenated this season, and the one on which they must be built if they are to have one more crack at the top. A 2-8 record over their last 10 games shows the innate fragility of the elderly Warriors rotation, and 2024-25 is never going to be like 2014-15 was. But if the younger players such as Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and the spluttering Brandon Podziemski could be part of a deal for Butler, consider the Warriors interested. The two-timelines thing never worked here anyway.

Were it not for the 3-21 record of the Washington Wizards, the Pelicans would be the worst team in the NBA. They prop up the remainder of the Western Conference with a 5-22 record, and what that record does not probably document is the listlessness of it all. The Pelicans cannot score, cannot defend, and cannot stay healthy; in particular, the once-anointed leader Zion Williamson is injured once again, and is “not close” to a return.

If Jimmy refuses to play for a non-contender, then the Pelicans are well and truly out of the running. If these truly are the final days of Butler’s career, he is not going to spend them in the lottery. What is definitely true, though, is that the Pelicans are going to be in the market. Be they buyers or be they sellers, there would be no point continuing down this road, and they also currently play home to Brandon Ingram, the only player to be on the receiving end of as much trade chatter as Butler right now.

New Orleans’ role in Butler negotiations, if any, might be as a trade-facilitating third wheel rather than as an active bidder. Then again, they were not expected to trade for CJ McCollum or Dejounte Murray either.

Amidst the controversy over whether he was right to do it or not, Shams Charania of ESPN.com has doubled down on his reporting that the Suns are one of Jimmy’s preferred trade destinations. And of course they are.

With their trio of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant in place, the Suns have their “Big Three” in place, and will be wanting to win a title before Father Time finally catches up to KD. As things stand, Father Time is looking at the first defeat of his life, as the ageless KD is almost as good as ever even in year 18. Yet the Suns must operate as though there is a time limit on things, and thus even if Butler has a time limit of his own, that is no obstacle.

What might be an obstacle is actually structuring a deal. The price paid to assemble that trio might prove prohibitive to adding a fourth wheel; put simply, the trade assets cupboard is really, really bare.

Nevertheless, if they can, they should. As explored in a review of their underwhelming 2023-24 season, the Suns entered this season having to thread the needle of both accepting failure and not admitting defeat. Aided by the absolute bargain pick-ups of Tyus Jones and Monte Morris in free agency, and the strong start to his NBA career of Ryan Dunn, they have been slightly reinvigorated, and are noticeably deeper in their rotation. As for whether would it be worth foregoing some of that depth to acquire Butler –  as the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound. They have come this far and might as well keep going.