Situation 'hasn't been appetizing': Why Warriors are unlikely to pursue Jimmy Butler trade

Although the Warriors would love to find a second star to pair with Stephen Curry, that player is unlikely to be Jimmy Butler, team and league sources tell Anthony Slater, Marcus Thompson II and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

The Warriors were previously identified as a team high on Butler’s list of preferred destinations, though ESPN recently reported that the 35-year-old is open to joining any team after requesting a trade from the Heat. Miami subsequently suspended Butler for seven games for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.”

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Miami prefers to trade Butler “as soon as possible,” and his time with the Heat has almost certainly come to an end.

However, Golden State is not viewed as a viable landing spot for the five-time All-Defensive forward, and there have been “no substantive talks or traction” on a possible trade between the Warriors and Heat, a source close to Butler tells The Athletic.

As The Athletic’s authors explain, there are several complicating factors in a potential deal. For starters, Butler’s rift with the Heat centered on his desire to receive a maximum-salary extension, which Miami showed no interest in offering. A Butler extension "hasn’t been appetizing" to the Warriors, according to The Athletic.

Butler’s age, injury history and another messy impending divorce with his current club are more reasons a trade is unlikely. But his contract makes a deal an “untenable option,” per The Athletic’s trio.

To match Butler’s incoming $48.8M cap hit, Golden State would have to combine multiple salaries, starting with either Draymond Green ($24.1M) or Andrew Wiggins ($26.3M), with the latter considered more likely. However, Wiggins has had a bounce-back season and is popular within the organization. The Warriors prefer to keep him alongside Curry and Green.

Jonathan Kuminga has been floated as a possible candidate to be moved alongside Wiggins for Butler. While the impending restricted free agent isn’t untouchable in trade talks ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, the Warriors aren’t interested in moving their two best wings for Butler, according to The Athletic.

Here are a few more Warriors rumors from Slater, Thompson and Amick:

• A deal for a maximum-salary player like Butler seems unlikely, but the Warriors have expressed interest in players on mid-sized contracts. They already pulled off a trade for such a player in Dennis Schroder, whose $13M expiring contract could be aggregated in another deal starting on Feb. 5.
• Cameron Johnson would seem to be a good fit for Golden State, but the Nets have a high asking price for the sharpshooting forward. The Kings and Thunder are believed to be showing more interest in Johnson than the Warriors at the moment, per The Athletic.
• Team and league sources tell The Athletic that Bulls center Nikola Vucevic is viewed as an attractive trade option due to his ability to space the floor and the fact that he likely won’t cost as much to acquire. As the author’s note, Golden State has multiple ways to match Vucevic’s $20M cap hit without exceeding the first tax apron, at which the team is hard-capped. One example provided is Gary Payton II, Kyle Anderson, Lindy Waters and unknown draft capital.