{"id":119332,"date":"2025-01-21T11:35:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T16:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=119332"},"modified":"2025-01-21T11:35:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T16:35:48","slug":"shaquille-oneal-ideal-jimmy-butler-trade-destination-golden-state-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/21\/shaquille-oneal-ideal-jimmy-butler-trade-destination-golden-state-warriors\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O’Neal Names Ideal Jimmy Butler Trade Destination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just one week after reiterating his trade request to Pat Riley<\/a>, Miami Heat<\/a> star Jimmy Butler<\/a> remains on the team. However, the trade deadline is just a couple of weeks away. Because of this, Butler is a name worth monitoring in the rumor mill. So far, multiple teams have been linked to Butler. These teams include the Phoenix Suns<\/a>, Golden State Warriors<\/a>, Houston Rockets<\/a>, and Dallas Mavericks<\/a>. As it stands, though, no trade is imminent. Naturally, many have speculated where the Marquette alum will or should end up. This includes a basketball legend Heat fans are very familiar with.<\/p>\n

On a recent episode of his podcast (YouTube link<\/a>), Shaquille O’Neal<\/a> said he wants Butler to end up in Golden State. O’Neal mentions that Butler’s playstyle would work best in the Warriors’ system.<\/p>\n

\u2018I would like to see him go to Golden State. I like him at Golden State, because when he was at Miami, he used to drive me crazy\u2014he\u2019d get all the way to the lane and kick it out for a three. I\u2019m like, \u2018Bro, lay the g*ddamn ball up!\u2019 That would work in Golden State because of the system they play.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Shaquille O’Neal Names Ideal Jimmy Butler Trade Destination<\/h2>\n

Golden State Warriors Are Unlikely to Trade for Jimmy Butler<\/h3>\n

Despite the Warriors reportedly having interest in Butler, a trade does not seem likely. In a recent article for The Athletic (subscription required<\/a>), reports indicated that Golden State is “not currently seen as a viable option” for Butler.<\/p>\n

“Yet according to a source close to Butler, the Warriors are not currently seen as a viable option and there have been no substantive talks or traction to get any type of deal done. Butler\u2019s history and reputation is as a premium two-way perimeter player \u2014 which the Warriors could use. Some credence exists to the idea that his midrange repertoire and defensive prowess could elevate the Warriors into that next tier of playoff threat. But Butler\u2019s age and injury history makes him a risky choice. His price tag makes him an untenable option.”<\/p>\n

Furthermore, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk<\/a>, two Western Conference execs do not expect the Warriors to make a major trade<\/a> of any kind this season.<\/p>\n

“ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania reported on Christmas that Butler had Golden State on his list of preferred destinations. But the two Western Conference executives expect the Warriors to hold off until the offseason if they take a big swing, which means holding on to much of their assets in case a superstar becomes available.”<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/h3>\n

Given that Butler will likely hit unrestricted free agency in the offseason, it could make sense for the Warriors to simply wait until the summer to pursue him if they have interest. However, choosing to stand pat may also not be in their best interest.<\/p>\n

The Warriors started the season red-hot. However, they are now just 21-21 and own the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference. Furthermore, they have a negative net rating and rank as a bottom-third offensive team in the league. There is still a lot of basketball remaining. However, the Warriors are playing far from perfect and are in danger of missing the playoffs once again. Regardless, with Stephen Curry<\/a> still leading the way, it is difficult to fully count the Warriors out. But if they want to make a playoff run, it is crucial that they turn things around fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just one week after reiterating his trade request to Pat Riley, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler remains on the team. However, the trade deadline is just a couple of weeks away. Because of this, Butler is a name worth monitoring in the rumor mill. So far, multiple teams have been linked to Butler. These teams […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":103456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,25,16,62,3,4721],"tags":[142,261],"class_list":["post-119332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-warriors","category-heat","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-shaquille-oneal"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119341,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119332\/revisions\/119341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}