The New York Knicks reportedly were interested in trading for Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler this past offseason before they acquired Mikal Bridges in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
“Towards the start of the season, the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors were among the teams linked to Jimmy Butler, per reports,” HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto wrote. “While Butler has drawn interest from the Nets in past years, he’s not viewed as a fit for Brooklyn’s rebuilding timeline at 35, league sources told HoopsHype. Across town, the New York Knicks expressed interest in Butler this past summer, sources said. However, talks didn’t go far beyond exploratory interest before the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges from the Nets, who were much more willing to make a trade than the Heat at the time. The Warriors, meanwhile, have gotten off to a hot start to begin the season and are one of the top teams in the West.”
The Knicks ended up giving up a package of draft picks, veteran Bojan Bogdanovic, guard Shake Milton and Mamadi Diakite to reunite Bridges with his college teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
Miami has not moved Butler, who could opt out of his contract at the end of the 2024-25 season and become a free agent. Butler has a player option on his deal for north of $52 million in the 2025-26 season.
This season, Butler is averaging 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. He’s appeared in 14 games for the Heat, and they went 2-2 in the four games he’s missed so far in the 2024-25 campaign.
The Knicks have gotten off to a decent start in the 2024-25 season, winning 12 of their first 20 games to hold the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, Bridges has not played his best basketball in his first season with the team.
This season, Bridges is averaging 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from 3. Both of those percentages are well below Bridges’ career averages of 48.0 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from 3.
The former first-round pick did have a big game on Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans, scoring 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. Hopefully for the Knicks, Bridges will be able to turn things around shooting the ball this season.
If not, the team may regret not pushing harder to try to acquire Butler from Miami this past offseason.
For now, it appears that the Heat aren’t intent on moving Butler, especially since they are currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, there is a risk that Butler could leave the franchise in the offseason if he opts out of his deal and signs with another team in free agency.
As the trade deadline this season approaches, it’ll be interesting to see how Miami handles Butler’s future.
