Jimmy Butler has finally been traded.
A saga that took months and featured no shortage of surprise twists and bitter barbs has now ended. Jimmy Butler III is heading to the Golden State Warriors in a deal that took no les sthan five teams to complete.
It was always expected that a Jimmy Butler deal was going to be complicated, but the expectation was that multiple star players would be moved. That turned out not to be the case, as the only star involved was Butler. Yet three other teams were needed to absorb salaries and ensure that the Heat were able to duck the luxury tax and keep their books open down the line.
What are the full details of the wild 5-team trade? Here is what we know so far:
Full Details of Jimmy Butler trade
Miami Heat Receive: Andrew Wiggins, P.J. Tucker, Kyle Anderson, 2025 First-round pick (GSW, Protected 1-10)
Golden State Warriors Receive: Jimmy Butler
Utah Jazz Receive: Dennis Schroder
Detroit Pistons Receive: Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson
The Detroit Pistons are the only team in the league with cap space so they were a natural fit to take on some salary, and the Utah Jazz were able to redirect P.J. Tucker -- whom they had recently acquired from the LA Clippers -- and save the Heat a few million in the process.
The Warriors land Jimmy Butler after sending out four players, and they were already at just 14 rostered players. They will reportedly convert two-way center Quinten Post to a full contract, but that brings them only to 12 players, so they will need someone else as well.
For the Miami Heat, they managed to drop all the way out of the luxury tax, resetting the repeated tax and saving them a lot of money in the short term. The problem they currently face is that they failed in their quest to avoid long-term money and may still be working the phones to move off of Kyle Anderson, Andrew Wiggins or both.
It seems likely that some more draft compensation is moving around to the teams helping to facillitate the deal, and likely at least one more player will be on the move as well. We will update this piece as we have more information.
UPDATE 8:54 PM ET: Kyle Anderson was originally reported to be heading to the Toronto Raptors, but per Michael Grange that part of the transaction fell through. For now, it appears that Anderson is heading to Miami.
That is an ongoing development as Miami considers other options. Anderson is under contract through 2026-27, thus putting him at odds with the Heat's desire not to take back any salary past next season.