The Golden State Warriors knocked off the Houston Rockets on Thursday night in their final game ahead of the All-Star break, and Warriors forward Draymond Green had some major praise for Jimmy Butler.
Green called Butler a “franchise changer,” and he believes that Golden State would not have won Thursday’s game without him.
Draymond Green calls Jimmy Butler “a franchise changer” and that the feeling has changed night and day from before Butler got to Golden State. He says Warriors would’ve lost a game like tonight in Houston before. But with Jimmy, they pulled it out.
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 14, 2025
Following Green’s comments, Butler’s agent Bernard Lee took to social media to amplify the praise from Green.
1 week…. https://t.co/mln301S1ni
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) February 14, 2025
Since trading for Butler ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline, the Warriors have won three of the four games that he’s played in. Golden State is currently the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference and is one game over .500.
Since joining the Warriors, Butler has played at a high level, averaging 21.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field. His 3-point shot hasn’t been great in Golden State (14.3 percent), but he’s still helped the Warriors play winning basketball.
The 2024-25 season has been a rollercoaster for Butler, as he wanted to be traded from Miami for quite some time before the deal with Golden State came together.
The Miami Heat suspended Butler three times during the 2024-25 season before trading him, and it appears that Lee wants the world to know that his client is still a winning and impactful player.
Prior to the trade, Butler was averaging just 17.0 points per game for the Heat. He had not averaged fewer than 18.7 points per game in a single season since his third year in the NBA when he averaged 13.1 points per game.
While the Heat have moved on from the Butler era and are hoping to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, Golden State is hoping that the six-time All-Star can lead it to the playoffs this season while playing alongside Stephen Curry.
Both the Heat (the No. 9 seed in the East) and the Warriors may have to go through the play-in tournament in order to make the final playoff field in the NBA this season.
