What Happened to the Kevin Durant-Jimmy Butler 3-Team Blockbuster Trade?
On Tuesday, reports emerged that the Golden State Warriors were working on a trade that would reunite them with Kevin Durant and send Jimmy Butler to the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, however, the deal never materialized. Instead, the Warriors ended up trading for Butler from the Miami Heat.
In the deal, Miami received Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, PJ Tucker and a 2025 first-round pick. The Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons were also part of the transaction, with Dennis Schroder joining the former, and Lindy Waters and Josh Richardson heading to the latter. Any hope of a Durant trade to the Warriors was extinguished with the deal.
It’s also worth mentioning that Shams Charania of ESPN reported after the Butler trade that KD is staying in Phoenix, as the Suns remain committed to building a contender around him and Devin Booker.
With that said, many might be wondering: What happened to the Kevin Durant-Jimmy Butler three-team blockbuster trade?
According to ESPN, the negotiations for Durant fell through after the Suns star “informed the team he did not want to return to Golden State.” Apparently, the Warriors, Suns and Heat were close to a deal before Durant made his stance on a Golden State reunion clear. “The Warriors, Heat and Suns had been nearing an agreement on a trade that would’ve landed Butler in Phoenix and Durant back where he won championships in 2017 and ’18,” the report further stated.
