After a months-long saga, Jimmy Butler is no longer a member of the Miami Heat. Now with the Golden State Warriors, Butler is preparing to debut for his new team against, coincidentally, one of his former teams.

Butler, who was traded by Miami to the Warriors earlier this week, is expected to suit up for Golden State for the first time Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls, the team that drafted Butler back in 2011. Butler played the first six seasons of his career in Chicago, where he earned a few honors, including All-Star and All-Defensive nods and an All-NBA third-team selection in his final season with the Bulls. Additionally, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player in 2015.

In the summer of 2017, the Bulls traded Butler, who was also nearing time for a contract extension, to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The move did not pay off for Chicago, which has made the postseason just once since Butler's departure and has not won a playoff series since 2015.

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For Butler, the move preceded Butler's very public breakup with the Timberwolves, which featured an infamous practice in which Butler, who had requested a trade weeks earlier, challenged his teammates, particularly Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, as well as coaches and executives. Butler was eventually traded to the Philadelphia 76ers before signing with the Heat in the 2019 offseason.

A six-time All-Star, Butler had been angling for a new extension for several months. The Heat were hesitant to give Butler the deal he wanted, likely because of the reasons Pat Riley outlined last spring, which led to a very public fallout between Butler and the organization.

On Jan. 3, Miami suspended Butler for seven games, not long after Butler told the media he would likely not be able to find “joy” in playing basketball as a member of the Heat again. Butler, who requested a trade, was again suspended days after his first suspension was lifted. He was slapped with a third suspension, this time an indefinite one, after reportedly walking out of practice.

The Warriors, who struck a five-team deal with the Heat that involves Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, and several others, agreed to sign Butler to a two-year extension, which keeps him under contract until 2027.