LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Butler arrived at Crypto.com Arena in a groutfit and joined Mike Dunleavy, his former teammate with the Bulls from a decade ago, in a crowded room in front of flashing cameras eager reporters.
Butler, fresh off inking a two-year contract extension upon joining the Warriors and free from the indefinite suspension the Heat shackled him with for a pattern of conduct detrimental to the team, has his joy back. He’s in a good space mentally and physically, ready to make his Warriors debut on Saturday in Chicago. He’s even excited to get Steph Curry the ball and get out of his way.
More than anything, he’s itching to play basketball again. Meaningful basketball. The type Curry and all great players crave.
“Hell, I think I’m going to fit right in,” Butler said. “It’s all about winning. So whatever happens, happens. But at the end of the day, if it’s for the right reason, to get a W in that column, what else really matters?”
The Warriors acquired Butler for a package of Andrew Wiggins, a protected first round pick and essentially salary fillers. Butler, at his best, is among the best big-game players in the game and the Warriors swung a deal for him while preserving their war chest of future assets.
By doing so, the Warriors have announced, loud and clear, that they’ve picked a direction: For the rest of this season and two more, they want to do battle with Butler, Curry and Draymond Green.
“We’ve picked a path,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said.
Curry turns 37 next month. Green turns 35 about a week before that. Butler is 35.
At 25-25 before Thursday’s Lakers game, the Warriors are at risk of their third straight play-in season. Butler might not make the Warriors immediate championship contenders, but the six-time All-Star at least could give them a fighting shot.
That’s what Curry wants. Dunleavy and the organization took a necessary step toward it before the deadline.
“I think it’s always been the path we’ve been looking for in terms of maximizing this window right here with Steph and Draymond,” Dunleay said. ‘I think you’ve just got to find the right player to do that with. I think with Jimmy, we’ve found it. I think there’s been some opportunities before that maybe we held the line on, I think it makes a lot of sense looking back on. I’m glad we did, to be able to get a player of this caliber in Jimmy. I think this has kind of always been the hope and plan.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr met Butler for the first time Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. He has already started thinking about lineup combinations around the new big three, emphasizing perimeter shooting at the center and shooting guard spots.
The fit might be clunky, at least at first. Butler is a high-IQ playmaker, passer and cutter and he’ll certainly play the non-Curry minutes. A ferocious competitor, Butler will assume the Wiggins role of point-of-attack defense. He finishes in the lane and gets to the foul line at an elite level — two qualities the Warriors have lacked. The question will be whether he can play alongside Green and Jonathan Kuminga.
“He’s a great player,” Kerr said. “All great players figure out how to play with other great players. So I’m not too worried about him fitting in with his teammates. We just have to simplify the actions that we run. Just make sure we’re letting him settle in with a few different things that we run, with spacing and let him play basketball.”
Those last four words are music to Butler’s ears. The Heat suspended him three times this season and traded him as he was serving an indefinite suspension. He walked out of shootarounds and missed a team plane, apparently frustrated about comments from Pat Riley about his availability and the Heat’s decision not to offer him an extension.
Butler famously said this year that he didn’t think he could find his joy in Miami. Could he rediscover it with Golden State?
“I know that I have my joy back now,” Butler said. “I’m in a different situation, a different group of guys. Can’t wait to be out there and compete.”
Butler led the Heat to two NBA Finals but has yet to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. Curry and Green have four rings.
“They always play winning basketball,” Butler said. “They’ll do whatever it takes to win. That’s what I respect the most. They’ve won at the highest level. Done it multiple times. Not only can I bring some things to this team, I think they can teach me a whole lot.”
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Curry and Kevon Looney called Butler a winner. Green described him as having a winning (expletive) pedigree.
“We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy who’s ready to impact our team for the better,” Curry said the night of the trade.
The Warriors aren’t necessarily pot-committed to their new core of Butler, Curry and Green, but they have committed roughly $145 in them next year. Follow the money, and that’s your path: go for broke in the present, while Curry is still an all-world player.
“I would like to say that I’m a winner,” Butler said. “I haven’t won it. But I’d like to call myself a winner. I do want to win it, that being a championship.”
Before the trade, any talks of a championship in the near-term would be irrational. They’re still probably far-fetched.
But now, at least the goal is clear.
