While only a handful of games have occurred since Jimmy Butler joined the Golden State Warriors, the contrasting success between Golden State and the Miami Heat has fans believing that the Warriors are the clear-cut winners in this trade.
Butler was a part of the Heat until midway through this 2024-2025 season. Reports revealed that friction with the management and issues regarding contract negotiations led to his demanding a trade from the team.
Since Butler has now been with several teams throughout his career and forced his way out multiple times, the media initially created a narrative that he was the issue and that the Warriors would regret trading for him. However, recent events challenge those notions.
The Warriors and Heat Have Opposite Records After the Jimmy Butler Trade
Since joining the Warriors, Butler appears to have changed his attitude drastically. He has been sensational for the team and has done everything required to win games. His impact simply cannot be denied due to the fact that the Warriors have won five games and lost one after adding him to the team.
On the contrary, the Miami Heat have gone in the completely opposite direction. Despite getting back Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson in return for Butler, the Heat have lost six games and won just one game since Butler’s departure.
Although six or seven games might be considered too small a sample size to form conclusions, there is no denying the stunning difference in momentum when comparing the Warriors and Heat.
Notable records since the Jimmy Butler trade:
Warriors: 5-1
Suns: 2-5
Heat: 1-6— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) February 25, 2025
With only 25 games left in the regular season for the Warriors, they do not have much time to develop team chemistry. Several key players to their roster such as Jonathan Kuminga are making a comeback from injuries.
If Golden State is able to maintain its current momentum and win the majority of its remaining games, it is more than possible for them to make it into the postseason. Since Butler is known to elevate his play in the playoffs, as he has done several times in the past, the Warriors could do just that.
At the same time, if the Heat continue losing games and fail to even make it into the playoffs, that will indicate that both their recent NBA Finals appearances were largely due to Butler and that Golden State made a brilliant decision by trading for him.
