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The Golden State Warriors finally found their star to pair with Stephen Curry when they agreed to a trade that will send Jimmy Butler to Golden State and ship Andrew Wiggins and other pieces back to the Miami Heat. With this deal, the long, drawn-out Butler saga comes to an end and he finally has a new home.
Butler had a player option for next season on his contract, so he could have theoretically become a free agent after this season. Now, however, the Warriors have locked him up for the foreseeable future with a two-year, $111 million contract extension, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. ESPN's Bobby Marks laid out what the extension will look like:
Jimmy Butler is under contract for $48.8M and a $52.4M player option in 2025-26.
Butler is eligible to sign up to two-year $111M extension with Golden State once the trade is finalized.
2025-26: $54.1M
2026-27: $56.8MButler has a $418,124 trade bonus that is applied to his…
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 6, 2025
Butler will slot in next to Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and the rest of the Warriors' young pieces as Golden State tries to maximize its championship window.
The Warriors have been struggling so far this season, and over the last few weeks they have been desperately trying to pair another star with Curry. Curry's time in the NBA is running out, so the Warriors are very desperate to make the most of this window while they still have one of the league's best players.
Of course, with this extension, Butler finally gets what he wanted. He may not have gotten the length of contract that he initially desired, but the AAV north of $55 million per year will do the trick.
The fit with Butler in Golden State is a bit wonky, and it remains to be seen how Steve Kerr will manage his rotation and the lineups that he can play. Both Butler and Green don't shoot very much from the perimeter and the Warriors have a pair of non-shooting bigs in Kevon Looney and Trayce Jackson-Davis, so some tough decisions will have to be made.
Butler will be tasked as the second creator for this Warriors team that also lost Dennis Schroder in the deal. Without Schroder, the Warriors don't have another player who is comfortable creating his own shot outside of Curry and Butler.
Of course, the Warriors will be thrilled with the fact that they did not lose Jonathan Kuminga in this trade. Butler had robbed the Heat of all of their leverage, so it's no surprise that Miami was only able to match salary and get one protected draft pick back in return. However, Wiggins should be a great fit in Miami and will immediately be a contributor for Erik Spoelstra and company.
Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect a change in reporting on Jimmy Butler's contract extension. It was initially reported as $121 million, but follow-up reports and details have it coming in at about $111 million. It's unclear if the $121 million number was simply incorrect or based on incentives in the deal that could bring it to that max number.
