In the summer of 2024, the Golden State Warriors had a major change in terms of force when they said goodbye to long-time veteran Klay Thompson. Although there was information about them pursuing replacement names like Paul George, this player chose to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
Some experts believe that the Golden State Warriors may consider other options to improve the team’s strength in the 2024/25 season, as well as take advantage of Stephen Curry’s final peak years. Among them, Sam Amick of The Athletic believes that Jimmy Butler will be a viable target for the CHASE Center team.
“Jimmy Butler will be a free agent in the summer of 2025. He will not be signing a contract extension. The Golden State Warriors are interested in that and will likely offer a trade package to the Miami Heat,” said Sam Amick.
However, is this deal really feasible for the Golden State Warriors at the present time?
Jimmy Butler’s current contract with the Miami Heat runs through the 2024/25 season. Butler has the option to extend it by one year through the summer of 2026, but there’s no guarantee he’ll exercise it.
The Miami Heat remain a strong team in the East, having reached the NBA Finals in two of the last five seasons. However, if they have a slow start to the 2024/25 season, the Miami Heat could consider trading Jimmy Butler before his contract expires, earning certain benefits to rebuild the team in the future.
“We’re still in the process of discussing internally the Jimmy Butler issue,” Chairman Pat Riley hinted.
Therefore, this will be the basis for the Golden State Warriors to jump into this deal. They will certainly have to lose Jonathan Kuminga, the brightest young talent of the next generation of the team at CHASE Center. Kuminga himself was also said to want to leave to become the center of another team, at the same time receiving better treatment.
However, there is still a big problem for the Golden State Warriors, which is that Jimmy Butler’s $48.7 million salary could cost them a lot of money to maintain the team. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins are the high-salary players on the Golden State Warriors and it will be very difficult for them to bring Jimmy Butler back at the present time.
Of course, if they still want to own Jimmy Butler, the management of both teams will certainly have appropriate salary balance solutions. Both teams are at the end of a generation of talent, and change is understandable.
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