Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade believes Jimmy Butler, his Chicago Bulls teammate during the 2016-17 NBA season, has found himself an exquisite partnership with the now-title-contending Warriors.
Wade detailed his excitement for Butler on Friday’s edition of “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony.”
“First of all, it’s a new relationship. We all know (what it’s like) when you get into a new relationship,” Wade prefaced, joking about the honeymoon phase with Anthony and fellow co-host Kazeem Famuyide. “They’re in the beginning of a relationship. I think Jimmy, he’s different than what you’re used to for [Golden State], but it actually fits perfectly, because there’s so much attention on Steph [Curry] on the perimeter.
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“And now Jimmy gets to play that space down low a lot; you see Draymond [Green] hits him a lot in the paint, etcetera.”
Wade knows Butler does his damage inside the arc.
The stats support Wade’s claims, as Butler has averaged 16.4 points on a strong 48.6-percent clip on two-point shots over 15 games with the Warriors during the 2024-25 NBA season, compared to his inconsistent 22.2-percent rate on 3-pointers.
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Furthermore, Wade believes Butler’s fit with the Warriors is “perfect” for another key reason: responsibility.
“This is the way Jimmy Butler loves to play basketball,” Wade said. “Like, Jimmy can go off – he scored [56] points in a playoff game in Miami (vs. the Milwaukee Bucks in Round 1 of the 2023 playoffs) – but when I go back to practice in Chicago with Jimmy, and when they talk about Jimmy playing with the second unit in Minnesota (Timberwolves), this is how Jimmy plays – 15 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists – when he’s not looking to necessarily average 25-plus [points] a game. So to be 36 years old, this is the perfect role for him.”
Wade has seen the Bay’s newest star excel as a No. 1 option in Chicago and Miami, but the retired guard understands the 36-year-old Warrior is better suited for a role player’s responsibility rather than, well, the big-time responsibilities that partially led to Butler forcing his way out of Miami.
Butler carried the Heat to a pair of NBA Finals series (2020 and 2023) and left games on crutches because he would play over 45 minutes a night at times. With the Warriors, Butler now gets to fill in the blanks between Golden State’s four-time champion duo of Curry and Green, among other key players such as Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski.
“If he stays in Miami, he has to be the star. He goes to Golden State, he does not have to be the star,” Wade said. “Shout out to Jimmy Butler for putting himself in a position that he can end his career the way he wanted to, and he got himself out of a situation where a lot would’ve been on him. Like, he wouldn’t have gotten that [two-year, $121 million contract extension] in Miami, possibly because you got to go out and average 25-plus, and you got to take us to this level for us to pay you as a star.
“Now, he moves to second, third and some nights, fourth option, where he can just be Jimmy Butler in his career [over] the last few years, doing the things he really, really does very well, and that’s all the things in the game of basketball. I love it. I love the fact that I get to see the Jimmy that I know at this point in his career.”
Wade loves watching Butler flourish on the Warriors. And Dub Nation sure is glad to have the six-time NBA All-Star, as Golden State enters Monday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets with a 14-1 record in games Butler has played.