Jimmy Butler made it clear he did not want to be a member of the Miami Heat any longer earlier this season. But what was not clear was how much Butler, at 35 years old, would help a team trying to contend for a championship if he was traded. The skeptics apparently included Stephen Curry, his Golden State Warriors teammate.

Butler did just about everything he could to get out of Miami, and while he has a history of elevating teams — he led the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances in heroic efforts — it was no guarantee Butler could fix the Warriors, who had lost three of their last four and were 25-26 at the time of Butler's arrival.

Curry explained his initial skepticism about the February trade.

“With any deal, you question it,” Curry said, via The Athletic's Anthony Slater. “Even when KD (Kevin Durant) came, it was like, you don’t know what it’s going to look like. We came into it positive, but you still had to see it. That uncomfortability is good because it challenges everyone to talk through it, come with the right preparation.”

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Butler has been known to make things uncomfortable and challenging at times. The six-time All-Star infamously made multiple scenes at a preseason practice in 2018 after requesting a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves. While his wish was not granted immediately, he did eventually get traded to the Philadelphia 76ers that season.

More recently, Butler, who had similarly requested a trade, was suspended multiple times by the Heat earlier this season for making it clear to the media that he did not want to be a part of the team, missing a team flight, and walking out of practice. After previously saying he would not trade Butler, Heat executive Pat Riley pulled the proverbial trigger by sending Butler to the Warriors ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

Since joining the Warriors, Butler has helped the team, which had fallen as far as 11th in the Western Conference standings, win 16 of their last 20 and rise to sixth in the West.

Tomorrow night, Butler and the Warriors will play and visit the Heat for the first time since the trade. Unlike Golden State, Miami is 5-16 since trading Butler and sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.