Butler (22) joins the Warriors’ pursuit of finishing Curry’s career as contenders. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m glad the Warriors are loading up on older guys to keep me feeling young.
In today’s SI:AM:
☀️ The Suns’ mess of their own making
The NBA trade deadline is mere hours away, with teams having until 3 p.m. ET Thursday to make any moves. The market heated up in earnest last weekend with the Luka Doncic and De’Aaron Fox trades, and the deals have kept coming since. Several notable moves were made on the eve of the deadline on Wednesday. Let’s take a quick look at each one.
Jimmy Butler finally has a new home after weeks of angling for a trade. The Miami Heat have reportedly agreed to send Butler to the Golden State Warriors as part of a four-team deal that also includes the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons. The Warriors are giving up Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick. Wiggins, Anderson and the pick will go to the Heat, along with P.J. Tucker from the Jazz.
The Warriors had long been rumored to be interested in Butler, but Butler had reportedly been reluctant to commit to Golden State beyond the end of this season, when he would have been able to exercise his player option and become an unrestricted free agent. Whatever Butler’s concerns about the Warriors were, they appear to have been assuaged. He has agreed to a two-year, $121 million extension to remain with the Warriors through the 2026–27 season.
It’s a fascinating deal for the Warriors, who had been openly debating whether to make one more push with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green at the expense of their future or sit tight and start preparing for the next era of Golden State basketball. The team is currently 25–25, good for 11th place in the Western Conference but just three games behind the sixth place Los Angeles Clippers.
The Warriors are betting big on the aging trio of Curry, Green and Butler to make another deep playoff run after falling in the play-in tournament last season. Next month, Curry will turn 37 and Green will turn 35. Butler is also 35. You can hear the door to another Finals appearance creaking shut. Or is that the star players’ knees?
The Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to get Doncic in a lopsided deal with the Dallas Mavericks was a no-brainer, but it did create one notable concern: It left the Lakers without a reliable center.
Los Angeles rectified that issue on Wednesday by agreeing to trade for Charlotte Hornets big man Mark Williams. Charlotte will receive promising rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and the right to a pick swap in 2030.
Williams was the No. 15 pick in the 2022 NBA draft after two seasons at Duke, and he has dealt with several injuries during his brief pro career. An ankle injury limited him to 43 games as a rookie, a back issue ended his second season after just 19 games and a strained foot tendon kept him sidelined for the first 20 games of this season. But he’s only 23, on a team-friendly contract and gives the Lakers much needed depth at center.
The Milwaukee Bucks traded longtime small forward Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma earlier Wednesday. The Bucks also acquired Patrick Baldwin Jr. in the trade and the Wiz got AJ Johnson.
The trade brings an end to Middleton’s 12-year run in Milwaukee, best known for his key role on the Bucks’ 2021 championship team. It appears to be mostly a salary cap maneuver, though. Middleton is making roughly $8 million more than Kuzma this season, and the trade drops Milwaukee below the second luxury tax apron. That can either be purely a cost-cutting measure for the Bucks, or allow the team flexibility when making other moves before the deadline. The deal won’t meaningfully impact the Bucks’ chances of contending this season. They’re currently fifth in the East at 27–22, firmly in a tier below the conference’s three best teams.
The Toronto Raptors acquired veteran forward Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and a first- and second-round pick in this year’s draft.
Ingram is a reliable scorer, having averaged at least 20 points per game in each of the last six seasons, but it isn’t clear why the Raptors would want to acquire him now. He’s in the final year of his contract and Toronto is near the bottom of the standings at 16–35. It’s a smart move for the Pelicans, though, who turned a player on an expiring contract into two draft picks without significant future cap obligations. Brown will be a free agent after this season and Olynyk is owed $13.4 million next season in the final year of his deal.
Another Chiefs Super Bowl means another big game with K.C.’s most famous fan in attendance. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
… things I saw last night:
5. Alec Martinez’s perfect one-timer to tie the game for the Blackhawks late in the third period. The Oilers went on to win in overtime, though.
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 50 points against the Suns. He’s the ninth player in NBA history to have three 50-point games in a seven-game stretch
3. The fan in Philadelphia who broke the news of the Jimmy Butler trade to Heat players while they were sitting on the bench.
2. Victor Wembanyama’s put-back dunk to give the Spurs the lead in the final minute. He later won the game with a heads-up play in the final seconds, intentionally missing a free throw to stifle the Hawks’ chance to answer.
1. Darius Garland’s game-winner for the Cavs from near half court.
Published 2 Hours Ago|Modified 11:08 AM EST
