Jimmy Butler … to the Warriors?!?

Jimmy Butler … to the Warriors?!?

Warriors let’s get into it three things of interest um I’m Gonna Save the big one to the end we’ll just do this like we we’ll move through this quickly and then have a bigger discussion at the a big I got a Big Bopper for you okay for you folks um but let’s start with Klay Thompson and the headliners would be that there has been absolutely no movement with regard to conversations and before you say yeah but free agency hasn’t started yet it’s not how it works for your own free agents Warriors could sign Klay Thompson anytime they want and there has been absolutely no movement quote clay appears ready to test the free agency Waters the Warriors quote haven’t exactly been beating down his door to work out the framework for an extension and then here’s the one that really got me listen to the way slates wrote this because what did the Warriors say about Klay Thompson at the end of the year at Exit interviews what’ they say they really want him to still be a Warriors we want you back okay Jackson Five listen to the way Slater chooses to write this the Warriors maintain a desire to retain Thompson at the right price once other aspects of their roster retool get clarified so two things get thrown into that sentence we want clay but he’s not priority one right and we’re not just paying you anything so you need to be at the right price and you need to wait over there in the corner for us to figure a bunch of other stuff out first EXA exactly so what do you want from clay okay Warriers that sounds good I will just sit here quietly and patiently and wait for you to come back at me at the right price which is probably half of what I could get elsewhere and a third of what you’re currently paying me because for the Warriors the right price is probably 14 or $5 million a year for maybe two years that would be the right price that would allow them to undertake the roster retool that they need to do and first up on their roster retool list and I don’t want to jump ahead because I know you have two topics and then the Big Bopper but there are other things roster wise that will predate July 1st in Klay Thompson’s free agency correct cavon Looney and his contractual situation Chris Paul and his contractual situation there are others um the more we read this the more we hear the more people we talk to I think you can start to see the breadcrumbs put together the Warriors are prioritizing a major move that is not Klay Thompson and they’re prioritizing it over Klay Thompson this has never been more clear to me than it is right now based on conversations and listening the Warriors are going to swing big and they they mean that in ways that are all kinds of not Klay Thompson and he knows that and they have to do that and honestly Klay Thompson’s probably approaching his free agency the same way because slates Anthony Slater mentions in this article that this is really the first time he is a free agent you go back to the summer of 2019 he was injured so yes he was a free agent but they quickly came to him with a Max he quickly accepted it and then he went and had surgery so this is his first real crack at hey everybody who wants a piece of this and so of course he’s going to shop himself absolutely okay so that’s number one here’s number two according to Slater the Warriors had some conversation with former Lakers head coach Darin ham in recent weeks that isn’t expected to materialize but it’s a signal of the warriors’s desire to add a bigname assistant and indications are there in search of either a former head coach or a former player to fill the role one thought and one thought only Pops to mind when I read that and it is that they are potentially getting ready to groom a replacement I thought about that part of it that’s how it felt to me little bit I I looked at it slightly different a week and a half after Steve cerr openly wonders if the next two years and then that’ll be it and it’s time for a new voice in this organization that is a possible I think secondary goal but I also look at what they’re dealing with and they lost decki tragically last year so that’s a vacancy on the coaching staff and Kenny Atkinson is said to be a favorite for the head coaching job in Cleveland so you already lost decky he lost his life it was tragic and if you lose Kenny Atkinson you had Mike Brown leave previously you’re looking at a coaching staff that is becoming more depleted than you’re comfortable with so yeah you’d like to bring in somebody who has head coaching experience or somebody who could be possibly the heira parent when Steve ker leaves but I think first and foremost you’re just trying to shore up your coaching staff because you got vacancies yeah but I mean why why is it got to be a big name why is it got to be someone with head coaching experience doesn’t have to be but that would be your priority that’s what they want and I don’t think that Darin Ham’s the guy no way and and it sounds like it’s not but my again my question would be why why why does that assistant need to be a big name why does it need to be someone who’s been a head coach before or has been a former player um you know I don’t think you’re making a decision about your next head coach now by any stretch but I do think that the Warriors have an operation that they that they have a lot of of pride in therefore whoever that next head coach is you’re not going to want him to feel like an outsider you’re going to want him to feel like an Insider yeah come in for a couple of years and get to know the C the culture get to know how we do things it makes that person a little bit more of a candidate I would say it does but I think if you look at the history of assistant coaches here with Steve cry you’ve already done this every single time Alvin Gentry former head coach he’s an assistant gets a gig Mike Brown same thing Kenny Atkinson same thing if he goes out now and gets a gig so I do Luke Walton was a guy you brought in and he went out and got a gig as a head coach so I do think this is how you conduct business but in light of the Steve Kirk comments it does make you step back a little bit and think the way you’re thinking about it in terms of you know trying to groom the successor ready for the big old bopper been waiting okay I wonder if you’ve all heard this because this will raise your eyebrows two situations of note on the player Avail availability Market this offseason two big names and this goes the opposite of the way that I would have thought Slater says if Brandon Ingram becomes available via trade he does not expect the Warriors to show any interest at all he does not expect them to show interest however if the heat shop Jimmy Butler he would expect the Warriors to enter the conversation all right that’s just about backwards from what I would have guessed oh and I love to hear it because I’m not oh I’m not necessarily against it I know I know you’re against the idea of Ingram yeah not firmly hard and fast against it just don’t I don’t necessarily love the player he is a little bit too much like Anthony Davis for me of and you already have that in Andrew Wiggins what brittle just a little seldom little bit of a seldom a seldom competitor I like that word you know it’s not it’s not quite Kawai but anyway go ahead it’s your best impression thank you Barn that my one word Reagan well that’s you know it’s a little dated but uh not huge fan of Ingram the only thing with Jimmy and steiny was going off on this earlier steiny and Guru show 10 to2 he’s an older player he’s 35 and he’s starting to show some injury signs but I like the dog in Jimmy Butler the dog I like the dog in him okay but what about uh I mean Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green on the same team what could go wrong not a thing I mean what could go wrong I don’t know what their relationship is like well it’s not about their relationship it’s about who Jimmy Butler clearly is and I don’t know I don’t know Jimmy Butler I have no idea I’ve never been around Jimmy Butler well the stories you hear is he’s an alpha he’s an Alpha’s Alpha and Alpha is fine I got no issue with Alpha but Alpha who wears people out is different and I do think there are people even if you’ve never met him that you can start to see a track record like I feel about Jimmy Butler the same way I feel about Stefan Diggs Stefan Diggs is a wonderful player he’s an incredible wide receiver it’s clear to me just by watching his career and listening to the comments of teammates that dude wears people out Jim Harbaugh is a phenomenal coach it is clear to me that he wears people out and so every five to seven years wherever he is he leaves an organization in better shape but it’s time to leave because everyone wants to strangle him well are we are we talking about the exact same thing with Jimmy Butler who was ripped as quickly as two weeks ago by his own boss in Pat Riley um there’s the Minnesota experience there’s the Philadelphia experience we could go on Jimmy Butler is somebody who wears people out now does that work because the Warriors probably only want him for a hot minute what’s left on the deal he’s got two years okay two years remaining he’s got 40 88 and then a player opt for 52.4 how the hell do you fit that I know that there’s a will there’s a way big meatball I know if there’s a will there’s a way but my God like I wonder if the fit here wouldn’t be better because of Draymond Green I think about Minnesota and you know it was a team at the time without Anthony Edwards that was pretty soft the kitty cat wasn’t yet established and it was a team without real real tough real alphas and then in Philadelphia you had the Ben Simmons situation and I think that that was still a bad fit then he got to Miami and it actually worked in Miami for a long time they went to two NBA Finals right absolutely he’s a fantastic player and I think that when he if he came to a situation like this it would be more difficult for him to alienate and exert his will with Draymond Green in the building you even remember and I know you do but like I wonder how many people like do everybody remember that the majority of his career was spent on the Chicago Bowl yeah oh yeah feels like so long ago it wasn’t it was six years ago right that uh that he played for the Chicago bowls he was only in Minnesota for a second he was only in Philadelphia for a second he’s now been in Miami for five years and again wor him out wor him out and wor him out traded by the Bulls yep for Chris Dunn Zack LaVine and Lori marinan traded by Minnesota Oda for Covington Dario shich in the trade and then as a four team trade he was traded by Philadelphia to Miami and uh the Clippers were involved and haime hakz was a part of that deal and if he comes here it will be a trade again so when you get traded and then traded that’ be the fourth time get traded traded and then traded when you’re that good what does that tell you it is a red flag being wearing people out you’re right that that’s definitely the Stefan Diggs uh side of it but equally like Diggs the dude has got 21 a night this year and he can shoot the three he can get to the foul line which this team doesn’t really have he’s a good Defender and he’s a guy who wants to win he’s a competitor oh yes no I love the idea super selfish like we in sports media give me as many crazy people as you can find right and put them on the team that’s wonderful and and you know would the culture fit maybe you might be right you know what I mean like he comes into a situation where um it’s later in his career and he does not need to be the the king alpha or even the best player because that job it it belongs to Steph Curry he doesn’t even need to just be the bad guy that belongs to Draymond Green maybe it feels good to him at this point in his career 34 years old and they can pitch him on hey Jimmy just come here and be you just come here and play hard you don’t need to be the face of this it’s not on your shoulders just come here and be you maybe do remember this is a trade which means something’s going out something’s on the way out in order to get him in yeah and we given up for Jimmy Butler well you’d have to give out 46 47 million worth of assets unless you got below the luxury tax before the trade and then you don’t have to match dollar for dollar and all the rest of the nonsense well this is probably where I mean I so a one of two names would have to be involved it’s either Andrew Wiggins or uh Chris Paul’s contract and and and oddly I bet Miami would be more interested in Chris Paul’s contract than Andrew Wiggins if I could be wrong yeah I don’t I don’t know if they would because you know you you’re a team that wants a player you don’t want just a contract that you would then wave and then have the room they’re not close Miami they’re not close I know it feels like they’re close they’re not close they went on an epic imp probable run and now forever I almost hate it cuz now forever everyone’s like no you can do it out of the play in no you can’t not not usually if ever can you do it out of the play in tournament just because Jimmy Butler went on a an historic run that’s very very rare and and so I don’t think when you look at the Eastern Conference Miami is very close right but what does Miami think and I don’t I can’t imagine Pat Miley is in the boardroom thinking about a 2 to threee rebuild nor is Eric spola no but but look so a you’re not close you’re getting further away and you’re looking to trade your best player that doesn’t sound like a team that’s like so we can win it all next year Well you only are looking to trade your best player because your best player is blowing up the spot again I don’t think you’re looking at Jimmy Butler and thinking you know what we got to get rid of this guy because we don’t want a 21 point a game alpha male on our team the guy who can lead us to deep into the postseason we don’t want that it’s because he’s like you said he’s become maybe an untenable personality in the organization so you got to Pivot you’re not looking to blow the whole thing up and retool I don’t know about that you know I hear what you’re saying but at the same time I’m kind of like look this is pro sports if somebody’s being a pain in the rear but you still think they can lead you to a win you going to keep them good god look what the Warriors have done with Draymond Green you can tell me like you just have to well guy’s pain in the but so we got to move him not if you think he can help you well not if he thinks he can help him and that’s Steph Curry imagine if there was no Steph Curry Draymond would have been gone years ago right but but again the organization also has his back and clearly believes he’s still really good at basketball and very very effective toward winning so Miami is not in my opinion at least they’re not just like well Jimmy’s amazing and he’s our best chance but gosh I don’t like being around him so let’s get rid of him I don’t think that’s Miami’s thought process I think their thought process is he’s 34 he’s only getting older we’re getting further away and he’s a pain in the rear let’s see if we can change this up a little bit and if you’re changing it up are you going Andrew Wiggins or are you going let’s get a bunch of salary room because that’s what Chris Paul would represent right I just don’t Envision Miami going that route and looking for salary room and looking to just take it on the chin for a year Pat Riley has been known for winning and they’ve won and I know they haven’t won the title there in a long time in Miami but I just can’t see him you know wanting to take it on the chin I’m looking at a clip from yodanis Haslam saying Hell to the no about talk of Jimmy Butler leaving Miami so it might just be Bluster from Jimmy Butler to get a rework deal and I know he’s got one more year and then he’s got a player option so he might just be fishing for a little extension the larger point when you put all of these puzzle pieces together to me yeah and I know you’re going to I know you’re going to agree with this is these are just breadcrumbs but piece them all together uh forget the coaching one bread yeah that do thank you but okay the behavior toward Klay Thompson combined with the Warriors are going to be all in on trading for big names these things all lead to the same conclusion for me which is that the Warriors are not that into the idea of keeping Klay Thompson klay’s a fallback plays a fallback unless he wants to play for a very little amount of money that’s the thing and even if he even if they have to fall back to that position maybe you get to like July 10th and Clay hasn’t signed anywhere and you haven’t been able to make any big swings and now you’re you’re both sitting there maybe you come to terms late in free agency and he does return but I would bet and there’s a number of teams Anthony Slater mentions in the piece who have cap room and who are close to being winning teams and that’s what Klay wants Klay wants to win and he wants to make a decent amount of money commensurate with his skills and I think there are enough of those teams out there so that the n The Warriors won’t have a chance to be the fallback it’s just interesting because if you remember what Ramona shelburn said to us a few weeks ago she said that the way they approach Clay is maybe the most important thing not the Mone because yeah Klay Thompson’s not going to break the bank this time around relatively speaking and um Klay Thompson doesn’t need uh to to break the bank klay’s all set on money for the rest of his life so sure he wants to be paid he wants to be paid well but he might be more interested or willing to take a little bit less to to be a career Warrior and and continue to hang out with his guys but the way the Warriors approach him the role they foresee the way they kind of make him feel with their offer is going to be of the utmost importance well here’s the start that it’s off to well hey clay sit over there and wait we haven’t even gotten to you yet and and we don’t know if we will well they could have they could have extended him already and he could have signed an extension offer but I would imagine that they made an offer for him to get an extension and it probably wasn’t anywhere near what he thinks he can get on the open market and they know that yep so uh you can weigh in on it

Willard and Dibs run through a number of Warriors offseason nuggets, including an update on Klay Thompson’s free agency, the Warriors kicking the tires on former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, and explain how the Warriors may be interested in acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Heat this offseason.

Download the Audacy app to never miss any of your favorite 957 The Game content:
https://go.audacy.com/y-listen-live-957thegame

Listen live: https://www.audacy.com/957thegame/listen
Visit our website: https://www.957thegame.com
Subscribe on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/957thegame
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/957thegame
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/957thegame
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/957thegame/
Join our Newsletter: https://www.audacy.com/957thegame/join-our-clubs/mvp-club