New Report on Potential Three-Team Jimmy Butler Trade to Warriors

Jimmy Butler has missed the last four consecutive games after getting served an indefinite suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. Amid extensive trade rumors, Butler stays with the Heat, for now, until a top suitor finally emerges.

The six-time NBA All-Star has been connected to many different teams ahead of next week's trade deadline, but one of the most interesting has been the Golden State Warriors. Pairing Butler with superstar Steph Curry is a fun thought, as NBA insider Marc Stein laid out how the Warriors and Toronto Raptors can get involved in trade talks with the Heat.

Oct 27, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) dribbles past Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) in the first quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

"The Raptors, though, have likewise been widely billed as a team eager to participate in a Butler trade if possible," Stein reported. "Amid a belief that the Golden State Warriors continue to weigh whether to commit fully to the pursuit of Butler — which would almost certainly require the Warriors to include Andrew Wiggins as a centerpiece of their trade package to sufficiently reach Butler's $48.8 million salary this season — there is an equally strong expectation that the Raptors would try to insert themselves into such a trade construction to acquire the Canadian Wiggins."

Wiggins getting rerouted to the Raptors would make a Butler trade much more interesting and could be one of the few ways the Warriors can financially make a Butler blockbuster work.

Sources: Steph Curry and Steve Kerr have concerns about how Jimmy Butler would fit on the Warriors.

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Stein continues to lay out details on how this potential three-team trade would work.

"[Bruce] Brown's $23 million expiring contract, of course, is central to any significant move that the Raptors make on these fronts," Stein reported. "If the Raptors could cement themselves as a facilitating team in a potential Butler-to-Golden State trade, offering Brown to the Heat to try to acquire Wiggins is one obvious pitch. The Heat, for starters, have already been revealed by Fischer here a week ago to hold interest in [Brown]. No less important: Miami is reluctant in the extreme to take back any player in a Butler trade whose salary strays beyond the 2025-26 season. Wiggins holds a $30.1 million player option for 2026-27."

Bruce Brown and Andrew Wiggins are certainly key factors in a potential Warriors-Raptors-Heat deal, but it is very possible that the Warriors could land Butler ahead of the trade deadline, especially with Toronto being the middleman.

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