Shams Charania doubled down on a recent report about Jimmy Butler’s interest in being traded, saying on Wednesday that Butler would prefer to be traded before February’s trade deadline and mentioning the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and Phoenix Suns as his preferred destinations, favoring the Suns and Warriors.
While a trade back to his home state may be difficult, especially without giving up Kyrie Irving, one writer took a stab at it.
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposed a trade of Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, and two first-round pick swaps in 2026 and 2031 for Jimmy Butler.
“There’s no reason for the Dallas Mavericks to operate with the same level of desperation the Warriors probably should. They just made the NBA Finals with the bulk of their current roster. And landing Butler would probably mean unloading last season’s acquisitions, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. Those two were integral in Dallas’ 2024 playoff run. The Mavericks are also light on draft capital. So if Butler’s market heats up, plenty of teams can probably outbid them.
“But the best offer Dallas can put together (without including Kyrie Irving) is at least competitive. And there’s a world in which Butler is the short-term upgrade necessary to push the Mavs to the one spot they haven’t been yet. A star trio of Butler, Irving, and Luka Dončić would have an embarrassment of riches on the playmaking front. Butler would conceivably have more energy to take on tougher defensive assignments, as he’d likely be a third option on offense. And though this particular framework would hurt Dallas’ depth, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes have shown the ability to take on bigger roles.
“For Miami, again, this deal is probably only intriguing if other suitors are scared off by Butler’s age and/or lack of availability. But it would give the Heat a deeper rotation, reorient the team around Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, and give it the potential to move up in a pair of future drafts.”
For what it’s worth, this proposed trade would not go through on Spotrac, which tracks every team’s tax apron space and allows you to make hypothetical trades, seeing what would be allowed. It wouldn’t take too much more for this to go through, as the Mavs could add Maxi Kleber, and Miami could throw in Haywood Highsmith and Alec Burks; that would be a trade that makes the money match.
It’s hard to justify the Mavericks giving Miami three of their top seven rotation players for a 35-year-old who could be on an expiring deal, as Jimmy Butler does have a player option and can be a free agent after the season.
Especially now that Luka Doncic is out for an extended period with a calf strain, sacrificing a lot of depth for a player past his prime (who is still capable of the occasional big games but isn’t an elite shooter). Dallas would be better off standing pat and acquiring more depth to fill out their bench.
