Warriors nearing trade for Jimmy Butler: Sources

New York Times

06-02-2025

With Durant not eager for a Warriors reunion, Golden State has dropped its trade pursuit of the Suns' star. Elsewhere, the Bucks acquired Kyle Kuzma for Khris Middleton, ending the latter's decade-long run with the franchise. Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images
The prevailing wisdom around the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis swap is that it sets up the Lakers' next decade. Surprisingly, Las Vegas likes their chances this spring, too. Los Angeles hovered around +4000 title odds on BetMGM before Saturday's stunner. They're down to +1400 with Dončić. Some of that is public hype surrounding the shiny new superstar pairing, but it's a particularly massive upswing for a team that still needs a starting center.
Dallas, meanwhile, went from +2000 to +3000. That's a lot of Anthony Davis disrespect by these bookmakers.
San Antonio is still a super-mega-long shot but improved its odds with De'Aaron Fox; Sacramento is just as improbable, now commanding an even bigger payout with Zach LaVine. Milwaukee was at +2500 this weekend and bumped slightly to +2800 with Kyle Kuzma on Wednesday.
Boston and OKC are still tied for the best odds (+225).
Do the Sacramento Kings need Jonas Valančiūnas?
I'd argue they certainly do not. Not with Domantas Sabonis on the roster and so much of their game involving playing one big man (Sabonis) with a lot of wings and perimeter players around him. Sacramento has kept with the modern times in that way, so you wouldn't just acquire Valančiūnas to pair him next to his Lithuanian teammate. The Kings also have two capable backup big men in Alex Len and Isaac Jones, who don't play a lot of minutes but still eat up some of the rotation. They'll also throw some Trey Lyles at center every once in a while.
Maybe Sacramento is putting more of an emphasis on having a massive human being on the court at any given time? Maybe!
I also look at this acquisition in three other ways.
Read on for more.
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Jonas Valančiūnas trade grades: Kings make waves in limited big-man market
Before tonight's game in Charlotte, I asked Hornets head coach (and former Bucks assistant coach) Charles Lee about the difference he thought Khris Middleton made as a standard bearer in Milwaukee.
Lee's response was two minutes long. His full response is here.
Scott Taetsch / Getty Images
What are we to make of the Wizards trading center Jonas Valančiūnas to the Kings for a second-round pick in 2028, a second-round pick in 2029 and 20-year-old wing Sidy Cissoko?
In its broadest scope, the Wizards' decision to sign Valančiūnas to a three-year, $30.3 million deal provided some instant offense, defensive rebounding and cover for rookie big Alex Sarr to avoid getting shoved around by some of the league's most physical bigs. We now also know adding Valančiūnas also yielded a pair of future second-round picks and another young wing (Cissoko) with positional size (and an undeveloped skill set).
The move to add Valančiūnas brought no 'win damage.' Having Valančiūnas on the team did nothing to derail the Wizards' hopes of protecting their 2025 draft-lottery odds. In fact, even with Valančiūnas appearing in all of Washington's games, Washington still eked out only an 8-41 record, by far the worst record in the league. That's maximizing their lottery odds.
Washington's front office keeps making really sharp moves on the margins. I understand if the Wizards' fanbase feels like this rebuild is slow-moving — the timing wasn't awesome with it starting in earnest before a 2024 NBA Draft no team was excited about, at least at the top. But team president Michael Winger, general manager Will Dawkins and company have made good choices to add talented players on their timeline.
A.J. Johnson, acquired in the Kyle Kuzma trade, has a ways to go in terms of physical development, but possesses a lot of natural talent as a scorer. Sidy Cissoko, acquired in the Jonas Valančiūnas trade, is an interesting flyer for the Wizards to take as a big wing with energy and defensive talent. To also pick up a couple of second-round picks in the JV trade, for a player they just signed this summer, shows Washington's front office has done a nice job with what it had at its disposal.
The Wizards' rebuild will ultimately be determined on getting the big decisions right, but Washington's front office is setting the franchise up to have some margin for error.
Jovan Buha / The Athletic
The Lakers welcoming Luka Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris at their practice facility
Everyone loves Jonas Valančiūnas, and the Kings had a glaring need at backup center. But giving up two second-round picks for the right to pay him $10 million next year feels like a reach.
That's some sweet cap management by Washington, however, to sign a player in the offseason they thought they could turn around and trade in the middle of the year. Basically, the Wizards turned some of their float-below-the-luxury-tax line into draft equity with an outbound trade. Now, in the next 24 hours, they can potentially do the same inbound with their open roster spot and trade exception.
Patrick Smith / Getty Images
The Sacramento Kings have acquired Jonas Valančiūnas from the Washington Wizards for Sidy Cissoko and two future second-round picks, league sources confirm to The Athletic.
The second-rounders will be in 2028 and 2029.
Substack's Marc Stein was first to report.
Michael Redd, the former Milwaukee Bucks All-Star who wore No. 22 before Khris Middleton, shared a long note on social media in appreciation of Middleton's decade-long Bucks tenure.
"Two second-round picks, both doubted, both determined to prove ourselves worthy of that Bucks jersey. That you, Khris, for carrying our 22 with such distinction," Redd wrote.
"You didn't just fill my jersey — you made it your own."
Anthony Davis is listed as questionable to make his Mavericks debut tomorrow against the Celtics. He suffered an abdominal strain on Jan. 28.
Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images
By Sam Amick and Anthony Slater
So much for the reunion between Kevin Durant and the Warriors.
After days of conversations between the Warriors' and Suns' decision-makers, Golden State has decided to move on from their pursuit of Durant, the 36-year-old former MVP, team sources confirm.
The Warriors were willing to part with a substantial package to chase down Durant and, if the Suns agreed, could've done so without his consent. It might've happened if Durant was semi-open or neutral to another partnership with the franchise he once helped win two titles. But Durant was cold to the idea of rejoining the Warriors and, having dealt with an unhappy Durant before, the Warriors are opting against a repeat.
This is the latest in what has been a string of high-profile misses for the Warriors' front office in pursuit of a higher level co-star next to Steph Curry. They had Paul George willing to join them this past summer, but couldn't strike a sign-and-trade deal with the Clippers in time. They negotiated with the Jazz on a possible Lauri Markkanen deal, but felt the price tag too steep. They bounced around the Zach LaVine idea, but let that option pass last week in favor of chasing bigger names.
It remains to be seen whether Golden State jumps back in the Jimmy Butler mix. Butler, like Durant, has also made it clear that he doesn't want to land with the Warriors. The Heat star is hell-bent on heading to Phoenix, where Suns owner Mat Ishbia is known to be willing to give the 35-year-old the extension he so desires.
If the Warriors don't land Butler or shock the NBA world by prying a co-star from elsewhere across the landscape, they are expected to move onto secondary pursuits like Nikola Vučević and Brandon Ingram. One team source described them as still 'determined' to get something done prior to Thursday's deadline.
Dorian Finney-Smith on the criticism of Luka Dončić's weight and conditioning:
'S---, if I'm putting up them type of numbers, maybe I need to be 270.'
JJ Redick said there's a chance that Luka Dončić is cleared to play Saturday vs. Indiana. If not, Redick hopes Dončić can play Monday vs. Utah.
Dončić has not played since Dec. 25 due to a calf injury.
Benny Sieu / Imagn
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For 12 years, the Giannis Antetokounmpo-Khris Middleton duo built some of the NBA's most unshakable chemistry. They were the Bucks' standard bearers, and they took that shared responsibility seriously.
'For me, it's a little bit bigger than business, it's family,' Antetokounmpo said at shootaround Wednesday morning in Charlotte. 'With a guy that I've won a championship with — it's not only that I've won, I've lost a lot of times with him. I've been in a dark place a lot of times with him. I've been in the bus going to a lot of pressure situations with him. … That's what I remember.
'Not only the good times we had … I remember all the other times that everybody was depending on us. The organization was depending on us. The city was depending on us. Our teammates were depending on us. I remember all those moments. We were able to find a way to make things happen, and we (found) a way to win a championship.
'I know it's business, but for me, Khris is my brother. I'm going to have a relationship with him after basketball. It kind of hurts, but at the end of the day, I understand the business side of things, and I'm still going to show up to work and do my job until it's my time to dip.'
Read more of Antetokounmpo's reaction to the Middleton-Kyle Kuzma trade here.
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Khris Middleton was special to Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Trade marks end of an era
CHICAGO — Billy Donovan has a contract, but how much security does he have or want? How much sense does it make for Donovan to coach a rebuilding Chicago Bulls team?
Though he talked about his skill at building programs in college and denied that he left the Oklahoma City Thunder because they were rebuilding, he knows the reality of the business. Someone is always to blame.
Donovan has been here for five years, and in that time, the Bulls have improved from the dark days of the Jim Boylen years. But they've created scant positive memories for the fans and have a negligible overall identity.
'I'm about building something,' Donovan said. 'So clearly, we're making a shift. But what direction are we going, and how are we going to build it, and what are we going to do? I don't think anybody inside the organization has those answers right now, just because I don't know if anything's totally complete at this point in time.'
Donovan said there will need to be conversations with the front office and ownership about his future and the team's plans at the end of the season.
GO FURTHER
With another rebuild in motion, Bulls are as far away from a title as ever