Jimmy Butler trade destinations: Warriors, Rockets among teams that could offer Miami an intriguing package

Jimmy Butler has been making some pretty thinly veiled comments of late about his desire to traded from the Miami Heat, but now he’s made it official as Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst of ESPN report that Butler has “indicated to the Heat he wants the team to trade him” and that he is “open to playing anywhere other than Miami.”

According to ESPN, Butler will not provide a list of preferred destinations as he feels he can make any team a contender, but let’s be honest: Butler wants to go to a team with at least a chance to compete for a title. Moreover, there are only a few teams with the assets to properly tempt Heat president Pat Riley to consider making a deal, let alone actually pull the trigger on one. 

With those stipulations in mind, here are three teams that could make sense for both sides.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have already traded for Dennis Schroder, but they need more if they want to truly compete for a title in the twilight of Stephen Curry’s prime. Butler could be just the ticket as a legitimate second star in an offense that not only falls off a cliff when Curry leaves the floor, but one that is also desperate for a guy like Butler who can create individual advantages outside the system. 

Butler fits the defensive, smart and selfless culture that Steve Kerr has cultivated. At 35, he is still playing great basketball. He’s going to turn down his player option next season and want one more big contract, and if Golden State were to give it to him, they would have the trio of Curry, Butler and Draymond Green locked up through at least 2027, when both Curry and Green, as of now, will become free agents. 

That’s three title shots: This season, next season, and the season after that. It will almost certainly cost the Warriors Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, potentially Brandin Podziemski or Moses Moody to make a salary match work, and at least a future first-round draft pick, if not two. It would be a huge package if the Heat weren’t willing to short sell Butler, even if there aren’t any other real suitors at the table, but the reality is Golden State is probably going to have to hit the free agent market for their post-Curry franchise player anyway. 

They probably shouldn’t nickel and dime over a few draft picks that might well end up in the latter half of the first round. Kuminga is good, but probably not good enough to be a future franchise player or, at the moment, even the second or third piece the Warriors need on a consistent basis. Podziemski has declined considerably after his All-Rookie season a year ago. 

Golden State is still within honest range of contention, and the simple truth is it could be a very long time before they’re in that spot again once Curry fades out. If they don’t want to let this last chapter go to waste, they need to go hard after Butler with a package that Miami will be forced to seriously consider. 

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks did their roster reconstruction in the offseason by adding Klay Thompson, picking up Quentin Grimes and signing Naji Marshall. While Thompson’s production has waxed and waned this season, Grimes and Marshall have been valuable additions on both ends of the floor. Kyrie Irving is flirting with a 50-40-90 season, and Luka Doncic was rounding into MVP form before this calf strain that will keep him out at least another three weeks.

With a healthy Doncic, the Mavericks are a bona fide title contender even without the addition of a talent like Butler, so they don’t need to act as desperately as Golden State. But if they did add Butler to the mix, there isn’t a team in the world, including the Celtics, that would want to see them in a playoff series. That would be one of the greatest trios of individual creators and closers in NBA history, and Butler would only add to Dallas’ already stout defense. 

That said, getting Butler, if the Mavericks would even have a package Miami would want, would cost the Mavericks practically all the depth they spent time cultivating over the last several years. Imagine a deal that sends Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford and Maxi Kleber to the Heat for Butler and two throw-ins to make the money work. 

That’s a lot for a team that doesn’t actually need a lot. As good as Butler is, having a top-heavy roster with zero depth typically only gets you so far. Dallas would be betting that top-end superstardom can take them farther than a more balanced roster. 

The Suns are finding out how big a mistake that can be, but as good as the Durant-Booker-Beal trio is, a Doncic-Irving-Butler trio is even better. Doncic is better than Durant, and Butler is way better than Beal. Dallas makes a lot of sense as a team that is right there as a title contender and doesn’t need much to push it over the top. 

Houston Rockets

The Rockets are perhaps the most intriguing team on this list. Not many expected them to be sitting third in the Western Conference as the calendar flips to 2025, but they’ve been the surprise team of the season due to incredible depth, the continued emergence of Alperen Sengun and the steady guidance of veteran guard Fred VanVleet. Ime Udoka should get heavy consideration for Coach of the Year, as the Rockets are on pace to return to the playoffs after a four-year absence.

Houston has been patient in its rebuild, using the draft to select young talent with upside and bringing in quality veterans to give this team balance. This past summer they were rumored to want to trade for Kevin Durant, indicating they’re ready to warp past the growth stage of their roster straight into contention. 

Most importantly, unlike the Warriors and Mavericks, the Rockets can pull off a trade for Butler without giving up too many key rotation pieces as they are loaded with young talent. They comfortably can benefit from a consolidation trade. 

It’s unclear what the Heat would want in return for Butler, but assuming they’d want to retool instead of full-on rebuild given the rest of the roster, perhaps someone like Jabari Smith Jr. could be on the trading block. If the Rockets plan on building around Jalen Green and Sengun, as well as Amen Thompson, then parting with Smith to add Butler may be the move. 

They could even make Green part of the package if they want Reed Sheppard to assume future-point-guard duties. Green is a tough evaluation. His scoring and creation can be special but his efficiency is lacking. He’s a dynamite athlete and proven bucket getter and just 22 years old. 

You can make a case Houston wouldn’t want to give him up and also a case that Miami wouldn’t want him, at least not over Smith or maybe even Tari Eason, who is just 23 and a lights-out defender who just flat out makes the winning plays Miami particularly covets. Cam Whitmore could be another talented young piece that Miami would love to run through its developmental program. Houston has multiple first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 and could once again in 2029. There is definitely a package here that Miami would have to seriously consider. 

The point is, the Rockets have a treasure trove of young talent and draft capital to pick from if you’re the Heat, and Houston can fill out its salary package with veterans like Steven Adams and Jeff Green and Dillon Brooks. 

One of Houston’s biggest issues is the lack of a go-to closer, and Butler would obviously erase that problem. He would also add to Houston’s already elite defense. 

This is one of those situations where Houston has to decide if trading for an aging All-Star right now is the move it wants to make. This core has been so impressive already, and if Butler is already planning on becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer, it wouldn’t make sense for the Rockets to sacrifice young talent and picks unless they are prepared to sign him up long term.