Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective - EMERGENCY POD: Jimmy Butler Traded To Warriors, KD's Future

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to react to the latest blockbuster NBA trade sending Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat to the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a protected 1st-round pick. The guys then talk if this makes the Warriors a contender, how a Kevin Durant trade almost happened, what Miami’s future looks like and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. collective podcast, we talk about the NBA, which we're doing late on Wednesday night, joining me from the center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was with the Miami Heat tonight. And I would be honest with you, Bon Temes, as we record this podcast, I have no idea who won that

game against the Heat and the 76ers. The Miami Heat won the game against Philadelphia 76ers, and I assume we're here to talk about Pete Alonzo, resigning with the New York Mets, the one transaction of trade deadline week, my mother was extremely happy about. Oh. I called her and told her, and she was overjoyed. She had no idea that Jimmy Butler got traded. By the way, shout out something we're not going to talk about, but shout out to Lomzo Ball, getting a contact extension with the Bulls because it's a great success story.

Joining us from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City where there's a game going on right now. Shea might be on his way to 50 for all I know, Ban McMahon. Howdy, partners, he is indeed on that pace at least, 28 in the first half and getting buckets here early in the second. But listen, Oklahoma City Thunder, they made a big trade today. What do we think about that second around pick and Daniel Tice are getting from the Pelican? Really brave for the Thunder to play tonight, facing, you know, with Tice not in the lineup, you know, that's... Well, I wouldn't hold my breath to see him in the lineup, but let's keep it moving. By the way, food for thought.

I did TV today with Edanus Haslam, Miami Heat Retired player. He points something out. He goes, you never see Chegillis Alexander ever sweat. Dude, you also never, it seems like you never see him go full speed. And he blows by people. He just kind of cruises and glides. He had like 28 points at the end of the first half, and he's like, you don't see a beat of sweat on this guy. He's cool, man.

I asked Dagnot about him in Bakes. Remember he said he's always the coolest guy in any room that he's in. I think UD said he's cooler than a polar bear's toe nail. Oh, he likes them toes too, huh? Oh, no. Jimmy Butler got traded to the Golden State Warriors. So, yesterday, Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors, Miami. Heat and Phoenix Suns were in talks to do a three-way trade.

I don't know how close it was. Everybody's going to have a different story. We'll see in the coming days, just how much they say. But there was a time, if you listen to the podcast that Bobby Marks and I recorded, we stopped in the middle of that podcast, froze the podcast. Bobby and I went out and got on our phones. We alerted our editors that there was, that we thought that that trade was about to happen. So it got to some level of nearness. The folks that I talked to involved with the team said

it was one phone call away. Okay. It was going to be Kevin Durant going to Golden State, Jimmy Butler going to Phoenix, Andrew Wiggins going to Miami. Sources tell me. I have to say that, whatever. I like that. And I was other pieces and parts, but that was essentially what it was. And yes, it was going to be Jimmy Butler and not Kevin Durant in Phoenix. I'm not saying who called who, whatever, but I'm just telling you that trade was close. On Wednesday, Shams reported, and I assume KD may be made it known. I don't know how he made it known, but he did not want to go to Golden State. Shortly thereafter, he gave permission to the Warriors to negotiate with Jimmy Butler formally. They came up with an agreement on a two-year contract extension, and they did the deal. That's what

happened. Bontemps, what do you think about it? I think it's a pretty great outcome for everybody. I think, you know, we said the whole time to Miami Heat were not going to make a bad trade. They did not make a bad trade. They made, I think, a good to very good trade, given the situation they were in. Andrew Wiggins will slot right in as a starting power for a small forward on this team. Miami's playing Calell Ware. They're rookie big next to Bamatabio. They've got Tyler Hero who deservedly made his first All-Star team this year with Duncan Robinson, the back court.

They had a pretty glaring hole at the small forward spot where Jimmy Butler has been playing. Andrew Wiggins will slide right in there. It's a really good shooter for them. You know, fits the way they want to play. I think it's a good, really solid outcome. They also get a top 10 protected first round pick, very likely to convey this year. Miami also probably will make the playoffs

and avoid having two unprotected picks out in the future. So I think for the position the heat we're in, it's a real win for them. I think for Golden State, obviously getting Jimmy Butler, putting him with Steph Curry, This team is obviously going to be very interesting to watch over the next couple of months. I'm surprised that the heat gave or that the Warriors gave Jimmy Butler any sort of a contract extension,

even though it's really basically just adding one year onto his deal. He had a $52 million player option. He had turned it down to get this extension. He gets about a million and a half dollars more next year and then a new deal for the 26-27 season. But him and Steph together, I think, will fit together really well. question I have with them is there's not a lot of shooting between Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and the centers they currently have. Makes me wonder if the Warriors are going to try to get some shooting at the five spot between now and the trade down line or some other front court

they still have a fair amount of I think 17 or 18 million in expiring money plus other draft picks they can trade. Yeah, they've got something they do and they're probably going to have to figure something out. But getting Jimmy Butler for this return, I get it. And I think this ultimately was a good deal for both sides? They do have one shooting big, and he's actually started some recently, and second round rookie draft pick, Quentin Perimeter. Not Quentin Post because he can't score down there, but he can shoot. Wow, that was a basketball nerd joke that I never thought you'd ever make.

I've got a lot of nerd jokes. The most interesting thing about this trade is what didn't happen, though. It's that the KD part didn't happen. It's that KD shot down. He didn't have a no trade clause, but it made it clear like, listen, I do not want to go to Golden State, as Shams reported. And, you know, Golden State has dealt with an unhappy Kevin Durant before. His final year there is very tumultuous.

You know, I don't know if it's that he didn't want to play for the franchise period. You know, I don't know how the dynamic is with him and Dr. Mon Green at this point. Whatever it is, he didn't want to go back there. And that, to me, is the most fascinating part about this, you know, and, you know, we'll see what happens, you know, we can't guarantee he's with the Sons until the trade deadline buzzer hits or the Sons come out and declare on the record. And even then it's not a guarantee, but at least they're on the record or even, you know, high-ranking sources, whatever. But I think it's,

I don't think it'll be a smooth transition with Jimmy. I think if things gel over time, the Warriors could be a tough playoff matchup. Obviously, playoff Jimmy is a beast. But you mentioned the lack of shooting, you know, he's going to need the ball a lot. I think it could be kind of a bumpy transition as a lot of times it is when you had a star mid-season. Whereas with KD, you know, there's history there. Plus, he's so easy to fit. That would have been. I don't think the fit. I don't think the fit with Jimmy on the court is going to be that hard. I mean, Jimmy's one of the smartest players in the league. And I think it's going to be a seamless fit in the way Steve Kerr wants to play with all the reading,

react stuff they do and moving around. Like Jimmy Butler, I think, will fit fine. I think the bigger problem is to fit around Steph Curry because the Warriors, I mean, we've seen Steve Kerr play, Quentin Post more recently because the team didn't have enough shooting. And after this trade, it still won't happen. But I think. You added another, not he's a total non-shooter, but he's a guy that opponents are

completely comfortable shooting threes. Yeah, I know. But I just. Same with Raymond, and depending on which big is out there. It's tough to have three of those out there in 2025. I get that. I think Jimmy Butler, the player, is a very easy fit to put on a lot of teams because he's such a high IQ player. It could do so many different things.

I think the larger problem is the same one they had, which is that they need more shooting. And it's why I'm curious to see if they're not done between now and 3 p.m. on Thursday. So, okay. So there was a window for Kevin Durant to be traded to the might. Miami Heat. And once the Warriors were out, instead of it being a three-team thing, it was sort of a two-team thing, with the sons and the warriors both potentially being able to negotiate with the heat for Jimmy Butler. And I think the sons were willing to negotiate. I don't think they were anxious to trade Durant. And, you know, what you're going to hear going forward is the sons never wanted to trade Durant. And oh my gosh, you know, people called us and want to trade Durant. And oh, my gosh, you know, people called us and want to. our wonderful future Hall of Famer. And, you know, we just were polite, didn't hang up the phone. But there was a window there for there to be a trade.

Listen, they considered it and they tried hard to trade Bradley Beale and how that's going to go over and how they're going to massage egos and kind of kumbaya coming out when they'll probably be 500 after the night will be interesting. Well, I just, I think that the son's asking price was going to be pretty high for Durant. partially because of what they gave up to get him. And I think the reason that they were close on the three-way trade was that the sons were going to be able to get Jimmy Butler plus, as I was calling it in my conversations today. It was going to be Jimmy Butler plus some other things from the Warriors to get to get Durant. If it was just the heat negotiating directly with the sons, you were looking at Jimmy Butler and not so much else.

The heat weren't really as motivated to offer that. and I think that was an issue. The other thing is, I don't think that the heat wanted to put in, I don't think that the heat necessarily think Wiggins is a better player, obviously, but I think Wiggins, the cost was better versus. Yeah, I mean, this is the real crux of it, right? I mean, ultimately, if you look at it, it's a choice between Andrew Wiggins and a good first round pick or getting Kevin Doreen. but sending out probably one or two young players and maybe one or two first round picks. And this is a Miami Heat team that already is out to future first round picks. So now you're talking about potentially being out three or four future first round picks.

And again, Kevin Durant's still a great player. But look, I think if we're all being realistic here, the Miami Heat are not a team that was going to win the title with Kevin Durant. They're not a team that's going to win a title after this trade. and as we know, the Miami Heat are always thinking about the next big move they can make, right? It doesn't necessarily make sense to push your chips in with Kevin Durant at 36 now. When now you get a draft pick back in the trade, you're down one draft pick going forward. You have Andrew Wiggins. You have all these young guys.

And you sort of live to fight another day. Let this group of young guys grow together and see what options come down the road, including, by the way, in free agency in 2026, when they are still going to have. at least one max slot available to them to go chase players. I was going to say especially in the summer of 2026, and as you've pointed out many times, that was an absolute must in this deal, was no money passed 2026. And by the way, just to say it right now, Luca Dantzich got traded five days ago. The idea that Luca Dantzich is 100% going to be locked into a contract then,

when everybody assumed he was going to be on a Supermax deal, not necessarily the case now. So there's all the more reason to have money available that summer now. Yeah, the Mavericks cost Luke on a lot of money and provided teams at least reasonable hope. Now, if you're not saying he's going to Miami or leave in L.A. or anything. But there's a lot more of a possibility than when he could have signed a Supermax extension. If you had me put a bet down, I would still bet on him staying with the Lakers. Look, I think the Lakers are going to be able to, like, lob catching bigs are going to be lining up to go to L.A. Are you kidding me?

Sure. The Lakers have never had... The point, though, is Miami still has all the things in front of it. It wanted to do when they began looking at stuff for this train. More Hoop Collective Podcast after this. Yeah, and I also point out, though, Luke, and it'll be very interesting to see how the friendship between him and JJ Redick kind of evolves as coach player. But even though Redick wasn't in Dallas long, they did have a very, very good relationship.

out. Did the heat players say anything after the game? I don't know if you saw the video, Bontemps, but there was a fan in the front row, or I guess it's not the front row, but the row right behind the heat bench, who after Shams reported the trade was reading the trade to the heat bench live. That's how the heat players found out was from a fan from the bench. But you were in the heat locker room after the game. Yeah, I mean, the heat players, I mean, I was, you know, I was talking.

either here on Duncan Robinson about the mechanics of Jimmy's extension and they, you know, Bam didn't realize at first. They got a first round picking the deal and like they were figuring out. I don't think they knew right away that Josh Richardson was in the deal. I mean, they just finished the game and came in and we're trying to like sort out what was going on. But, you know, look, for the heat, for the players on the heat and for the coaching staff and the front office and everybody, they've had this situation hanging over them for the better part of two months. And I think for everybody involved, there was a, I think, a sense of relief. And in the locker room, player-wise, like, I think all the guys are pretty happy for Jimmy

that he's going to a situation that he is going to get what he wants and get, you know, it gets a new deal. He's in Golden State, the place he wanted to go. I don't think there's any real ill will towards him. But I do think at the same time, everybody is happy to be able to stop have to answer and questions about it, be able to move forward and, you know, get a good player in Andrew Wiggins and stop having to wonder what their team is going to look like on February 6th and just roll forward with the group that they have. It's kind of a mediocre, maybe a little bit better than that, finish to what was a miserable saga.

So see you later, Jimmy. No hard feelings, I guess, whatever. but the heat actually get to just focus on basketball now. Jimmy Butler got his money and got traded. Well, player empowerment took a pounding on the Luca deal, but Jimmy got not exactly what he wanted because he was fixed on going to Phoenix, but boy, he got traded and he got paid. He got his money.

Yeah, look, it was a good situation. It was a good outcome for everybody. I think it's a good situation for Jimmy Butler. He gets an extra $60 million. to heat get a good return for him. Like, I think when you go back and look at the six year, whatever, five and a half years, Jimmy Butler was in Miami. It was a hell of a run for everybody involved.

He'd made three conference finals, two finals. Butler had some incredible moments with this team. They end up, they got him for Josh Richardson, Hassan White's side, and a first round pick. They end up getting Andrew Wiggins in a first round pick back for him. I'd say the five and a half years in between were pretty damn good. And I think that he would say the same thing. Yeah. What do you think he'll say during his speech when they retire his jersey number?

What color will his hair be at the press conference? Maybe that golden blue, baby. How about green for money? But yeah, here's the other thing. Like, Jimmy, you know, hasn't played that much. And so they're going to get a fresh player. and, you know, Jimmy at times, I think, has not been as motivated to play, to say it, to put it kindly. Now that he's paid, now that I think he can make a difference, I think you will see a motivated Jimmy Butler.

And if he stays healthy, he could help the Warriors. How far can he help him? I'm not sure. But it was a, you know, Golden State's been trying for a year to get some sort of star player. And they got tired of waiting. And they saw, you know, at one point today, I think they thought. damn Kevin Durant might go to Miami and Jimmy Butler might go to Phoenix and we may be holding the bag here But something motivated them to basically go to that 60 million they were going to add

I'm not sure that they had been there before And you know I had reported last you know four or five days ago something like that I think four days ago that Jimmy didn't want to go to Golden State because You know he was interested well two things happened since then one the Phoenix thing kind of dimmed. He wasn't going to be able to go play with Kevin Durant. They gave up on a deal trade. And secondly, the money that was coming from Golden State was an attractive number. Yeah. And, you know, I think they desperately chased a star. I don't think they paid a desperate price. And I guess if you accuse them of paying a desperate price, it would be in the money paid to Jimmy Butler. But in terms of like Steph's whole thing and what Draymond had talked about and Steve Turner talked about not doing something that mortgages your future. You know, they didn't trade any of their young guys. They didn't,

you know, the one pick this year, but they didn't trade, you know, it's not like they coughed up a bunch of future first round picks. You know, comming is really interesting, though, because I would say, what was it? A month, six weeks ago, I thought he was getting traded this year. I don't know how you got, I'm not going to speak for you. Look, I'll just say it. I think Cominga would have gone to Phoenix for Durr, for Durant. Well, that's it.

I mean, I, you know, I don't know for sure. You know, somebody can deny it and put me on blast if they want, but that was certainly what was in the air. I was put it this way. I think Cominga and his camp thought for a minute that they might be getting traded to Phoenix. So, who knows? I would say that I think that his value within the organization skyrocketed.

in the two or three weeks before he went down with that ankle entry. Well, we'll see if that results in a contract in the summer. I would assume. Fair point. Yeah. More Hoop Collective podcast after this.

So, and speaking of the summer, Durant is now an interesting situation in the summer. We'll see how this season ends for the Sons. He's got one you left on his contract. At least part of the reason why the Sons looked into moving him, no matter what they want to say, was some level of. concern about what Durant would do this summer. And we'll see that finishes. I know, I am,

I am out of the, I've maybe done this in the past. I'm out of the business of, um, trying to guess or trying to project what Kevin is thinking. I will not do that. But certainly that contract is, was a factor in the way this week played out. Well, and I would, I would think that he would at least spend some time as he's putting his toes in the sand. pondering potential destinations. At least pondering. Like, how could you not? Yeah.

Well, I know one destination he wasn't interested, and that's golden safe. I don't think of ponder that one. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, look, the Phoenix situation, obviously, is going to be a very interesting one to monitor. And, you know, look, the league, as we've talked about all season, the league is pretty wide open. There's a lot of teams that think to have a chance. And that's going to lead to a lot of teams that are disappointed.

and that's then going to lead to a lot of teams that are looking to do stuff. And I think you've seen this week that there have certainly been several teams that have seen opportunities to make moves to get better from San Antonio to obviously the Lakers and Dallas mega trade to this deal with Golden State. And I think we're going to see more of that across the board this summer as, you know, there's disappointment and frustration over how these various seasons end. and you know, you're still going to have, you know, Minnesota and Boston's ownership situation are going to resolve.

And teams like Houston and San Antonio are going to see how they do the rest of the season and what they want to do then. I mean, there's going to be a lot of stuff going on all over the place. And, you know, the Kevin Durant thing is going to be smack in the middle of it after the way this all played out. By the way, remember, remember when we said we how hard it was going to be to move big contracts and all that? How many max contracts have been traded now and there's hours?

What we did say was that generally, if, those deals were going to move, they were going to move for each other. And that is basically what we've seen across the board. Like Zach Levine is in the Deerran Fox deal. And obviously Luca and Anthony Davis getting swapped for each other. But as one long time GM has said to me throughout the process, if teams are motivated to get deals done, they will find a way to get deals done. And ultimately, no matter what the rules are, that is going to remain the case. And it's been the case over the past week. All right. So before we go real quick here, just some things we might see tomorrow. And maybe they'll all be done by time you hear this pod and it will sound like we stole them. But Marcus Smart, keep an eye on Marcus

Smart. The Grizzlies have been in trade talks for weeks about things. There may be a possibility they might move Marcus Smart. There was some discussion that they may send Marcus Smart for Lonzo Ball, actually, with Chicago. Chicago signed Lonzo to a contract extension. He won't be going anywhere. I like that move, by the way. I've almost never said that I like a move that the Bulls do. I like that move. It's a great contract extension. It's been a huge success for Lonzo, like you said, the beginning. It's been a great year for him, and he's been awesome whenever he's been on the court. So hopefully he could stay healthy and keep playing

because it's been really fun to see him back out. Billy Donovan, by the way, tonight called timeout 45 seconds into the game because the Bulls gave up four offensive rebounds on the first possession. So just in case you want to know how the Bulls are playing. Rough times in Bullsland, who still, by the way, are in 10th place in the East and the race. Who cares? They got their pick.

They got their pick that they were already going to get. I just was saying they still have to worry about the protection anymore. That's right. I was saying they're just still out of the six. Also, popped up on my radar today. Keep an eye on the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think they're in some discussions about acquiring a wing player. Whether they pull the trigger or not, we will see they had a loss to the Celtics two nights to go that sort of lost to history because so much crazy stuff is happening. I was there. I was there. You were. How was Cavs Corner that night?

Cavs Corner was great. Caves Corner night was phenomenal. Darius Garland. I mean, they melted down. Let it be a tie game leaving. Darius Garland and a buzzer beater from the logo in Detroit? I know Cavs Corner was phenomenal. The hospitality was great. I really enjoyed my trip to the dirty sea, as Tristan Thompson referred to it. I don't think there's an official nickname. That's a new one. You guys, you and Bonn Thompson spent a lot time in Cleveland this year. I haven't made it there yet. I was there for training camp, but they were in Florida. So maybe later. But yeah, I think the Cavs keep an eye what they do with Caris LaVert. I thought that they might, I still think there's a good, a decent chance they're going to keep him. But he's an expiring contract. track. The calves maybe want to take on some money. They might need some extra wing defense. Right now, they're hurting a little bit because Dean Wade is hurt. They could use a little bit more size, but none of their core players. Also might try to get out of the tax. Only a couple million over the tax. They go a lot of different directions. Yeah, they got the four, F-O-U-R, the land,

that huge, is that on the old witness building? Is that what that is? Yes. Yes, it is. It's a sharp thing there. It looks good. Yeah, the four for the land will not be going anywhere. I heard you met the moon. I heard you met Moondog. We talked about that on the podcast. The people are very familiar. We did? Yes, we did.

Old Bontimps is dead last thing. Yeah. I mean, we could reiterate the bondings. I literally. The runner, you know, he's like the bulls in three-way trades. I got to say something. This is where I'm at this week. I have no recollection of that.

And with that, we're going to sign off. We're going to have our post-trade deadline annual podcast. We're going to record tomorrow so you can catch that on Friday. Thank you for listening to this emergency pod. Thank you to Jackson for putting it up. Thank you for watching, listen to The Who Collected. We'll talk to you Friday. Adios amigos.