There are whispers about the Warriors being interested in Heat star Jimmy Butler, so is the Golden State franchise the best landing spot for him?
The Athletic‘s Sam Amick recently spoke of the Warriors’ alleged interest in Jimmy.
“Jimmy Butler’s going to be a free agent next summer, didn’t get an extension done,” Amick said on The TK Show. “The Warriors, as you know, have interest there and I think probably [they] made a couple of calls during the summer.”
It’s no secret that the future of Butler in Miami is under question.
The forward can sign for up to two years and $112.9 million on an extension with the Heat but Miami’s president Pat Riley wasn’t exactly committed to an extension in June when he said, “We have not discussed that [a Butler extension] internally right now. We have to look at making that kind of commitment and when do we do it. We don’t have to do it until 2025, actually. But we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision on it, and we haven’t really in earnest discussed it.”
Without Klay Thompson this season, the Warriors may struggle and pairing another star with Steph Curry while he’s still in form should be paramount.
Many around the NBA community think the a Steph-Jimmy pairing would be a great fit, including B/R’s Andy Bailey.
“Curry’s unparalleled outside shooting would give Butler more room to operate in that short- to mid-range territory he already dominates. Butler’s playmaking and in-between game, in return, would make it harder to sell out on Curry’s off-ball movement,” Bailey said.
If Butler was to head to The Bay, it would be Steph’s best co-star since Kevin Durant, and we all know how well that panned out.
As good of a pairing as it might be, Butler’s production has dipped since his appearance in the NBA Finals with the Heat.
Butler just turned 35 and didn’t participate in last season’s playoffs at all due to a knee injury.
Jimmy has also never been able to play more than 65 regular season games while in Miami due to various injuries.
Butler wants a massive payday, so if the Warriors did want him, they would be well and truly kissing goodbye to their future to win-now.
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