After five-plus years, two NBA Finals appearances and an ugly divorce, the Jimmy Butler era is over for the Miami Heat.
On Wednesday, the Heat agreed to trade Butler to the Golden State Warriors for a package that includes Andrew Wiggins and a first-round pick, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
BREAKING: The Miami Heat are finalizing a deal to send Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/82mWHKCnVM
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2025
The Heat trade Butler in a five-team deal that includes the Warriors, Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons.
Here are the full details of the trade:
Miami gets: Wiggins, PJ Tucker, Kyle Anderson, 2025 first from Golden State (top-10 protected)
Golden State gets: Butler
Detroit gets: Josh Richardson, Lindy Waters III
Utah gets: Dennis Schroder
The deal completes a months-long odyssey of Butler forcing his way out of Miami. After the Heat made it clear they would not sign Butler to a maximum extension, Butler requested a trade on Jan. 2 and was suspended for a total of 14 games for the month for conduct detrimental to the team and other charges.
After remarking that he could not find joy on the basketball court in Miami, Butler was suspended for seven games. That was followed up by another two-game suspension for missing the team flight and an indefinite suspension when he was informed he would be pulled from the starting lineup.
Butler’s last game in a Heat uniform was in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 21.
With that, the Butler era comes to an end. It will go down as one of the great eras in franchise history, behind only the Big 3 era from 2010-2014 that delivered two championships and the Dwyane Wade-Shaquille O’Neal years that brought the franchise its first in 2006.
Butler will join the Warriors, where he will team up with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green as they seek to maximize the end of Curry’s career.
The Heat, meanwhile, will begin a new chapter. The locker room vibe had become increasingly tenuous in the weeks leading to the trade as players grappled with the uncertainty of Butler’s future while trying to climb in the East standings.
In the deal, the Heat get Wiggins as an instant starting-caliber wing and a first-round pick. If the pick is not conveyed this season, it is top-10 protected in 2026 and unprotected in 2027.
More than anything, the trade signals a new era for the Heat that will be navigated by coach Erik Spoelstra, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Spoelstra and Adebayo are close. They won an Olympic Gold medal as members of Team USA last summer and Adebayo, as the team captain, is responsible for guiding the locker room.
Herro is in the midst of a career season, setting career-best marks in points, 3-pointers and efficiency splits. Opposing defenses have adjusted by showing him their best coverages – something that underscores his impact on the team.
The Heat are seventh in the East, a tie-breaker out of sixth and two games out of fifth. They won’t compete against the conference’s best in Boston, Cleveland and New York, but they should still make a push for the playoffs.
This next chapter should also include Adebayo permanently playing the power forward position next to rookie Kel’el Ware and more opportunities for recent first-round picks Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.
Upon the trade, Butler agreed to a two-year, $121 million extension that will keep him in Golden State through the 2026-27 season.
But in Miami, the Jimmy Butler era is over, as ugly as an end as it may have been, and the next one is about to take shape.