It didn’t take long for the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes to heat up as NBA trade season is officially on and teams are open for business. The biggest name that has hit the market thus far is Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
Butler has had a great career and proven his mettle time and again in the playoffs, leading the Heat to the Finals in two of the last five seasons. Even at age 35, Butler is one of the league’s best two-way wing players and a legendary playoff riser to boot.
Surely, almost any contending team would want a player of Butler’s caliber and he might be the only player currently available on the trade market that could truly swing the title race. One team that desperately wants to improve and jump into that race is the Dever Nuggets; a team that has a clear need for a talent upgrade.
Butler wouldn’t be a perfect fit in Denver; he’s not a volume three-point shooter and could muck up the team’s spacing, he’s had injury issues and lacked durability in his career, and he’s on an expiring contract and seeking a max extension.
Still, Butler would easily be the best teammate of Nikola Jokic’s career and would offer a huge boost in perimeter defense and offensive playmaking adn shot creation - areas the Nuggets badly need to address.
Butler deal would be very hard for Nuggets and must include MPJ
There’s been enough smoke around this imaginary trade that ESPN published an article with six proposed Butler deals that could occur this season. Those fake trades included the four teams on Butler’s reported wish list; the Mavericks, Suns, Rockets, and Warriors plus two “wild card” teams; the Spurs and the Denver Nuggets.
Bobby Marks and Kevin Pelton explained the situation in Denver and suggested a possible trade that would work, but they also highlighted the challenges facing a deal for Butler. The Nuggets cannot take back any additional salary in a deal and they must match Jimmy’s $48.8 million.
Simply put, that meanest Michael Porter Jr. absolutely has to be in the trade. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon were both just extended, so they are ineligible to be traded this season and Nikola Jokic obviously isn’t going anywhere.
The only other player on the roster making more than $9 million this season is Porter Jr. who’s making just shy of $36 million. The trade proposed by ESPN was Butler to Denver for Porter Jr., Zeke Nnaji, a conditional 2026 1st-round pick swap, and a 2031 1st-round pick swap, with Dario Saric being rerouted to the Pistons.
That’s a pretty meager pick return, but it’s the best that Denver can currently offer. Nnaji has three more guaranteed seasons on his deal, which is a brutal contract. In other words, this entire deal will come down to how much the Heat and Nuggets value Michael Porter Jr.