Brian Windhorst Details Blockbuster Jimmy Butler-Kevin Durant Trade That Fell Apart

What could have been?

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) look on during the first half at Footprint Center. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Jimmy Butler got what he wanted and is now a Golden State Warrior. Barring something out of left field, Kevin Durant will remain a Phoenix Sun after today's trade deadline passes. But it almost shook out way differently, as Brian Windhorst shared on Thursday's Get Up in the wake of Butler's trade.

"This can be qualified, I think, as a genuine what-if," Windhorst said. "Because there was a trade sort of in place between Golden State, Phoenix and Miami that would have returned Kevin Durant to Golden State. But Durant stepped up and made it known he did not want a reunion. Once that deal fell apart then Golden State pivoted and tried to get Jimmy Butler."

"This was close to being Jimmy Butler in Phoenix and Kevin Durant in Golden State." 😯

—@WindhorstESPN on Jimmy Butler being traded to Golden State pic.twitter.com/wOXJcSuJBA

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 6, 2025

Speculation about a potential Durant return to the Bay Area ramped up on Wednesday with a lot of NBA people alluding to the idea without outright reporting many specifics. In addition to Windhorst's comments, Anthony Slater writes for The Athletic that the "Golden State Warriors ownership group and front office collectively “underestimated” Durant’s coldness toward a return."

This tentative arrangement would have elevated this trade deadline flurry to another stratosphere but it will still go down as an all-timer. The Western Conference will now be a proving ground for teams to prove that they pulled the right levers and made the right calls.

And it's yet another opportunity for Durant to wonder if he made the right decision or to have regrets, which has been the story of a wonderful career that carries that what-if factor.

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