Jimmy Butler trade expands, as Heat adds Davion Mitchell and gets salary cap relief. Details
The Jimmy Butler trade has been finalized.
After the Heat agreed to deal the disgruntled Butler to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, that blockbuster trade kept growing ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.
On Wednesday, the Heat acquired Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick from the Warriors, and P.J. Tucker from the Utah Jazz in the Butler trade.
On Thursday morning, the Heat moved Tucker, a second-round pick and cash to the Toronto Raptors to acquire fourth-year guard Davion Mitchell, league sources confirmed to the Miami Herald. ESPN was the first to report the news.
Here’s the full five-team trade:
▪ The Warriors added Butler from the Heat.
▪ The Heat acquired Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick from the Warriors, and Mitchell from the Raptors.
▪ The Raptors ended up with Tucker from the Jazz, cash and a 2026 second-round pick from the Heat (via the Los Angeles Lakers).
▪ The Detroit Pistons landed Lindy Waters, Dennis Schroder and a 2031 second-round pick from the Warriors.
▪ The Utah Jazz acquired K.J. Martin and a 2028 second-round pick from the Pistons, and Josh Richardson and a 2031 second-round pick from the Heat (via the Indiana Pacers).
Mitchell, 26, averaged 6.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 0.7 steals per game in 44 appearances (22 starts) for the Raptors this season before the trade. He’s also shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 35.9 percent on 2.7 three-point attempts per game this season.
Mitchell, who is in his fourth NBA season after spending the first three seasons of his NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, stands just 6 feet and 202 pounds. But he’s known as a pesky perimeter defender who will help the Heat’s point-of-attack defense.
“I feel like I’m the best defender in our league, honestly,” Mitchell said in a past interview. “Off ball or on the ball, I just feel like that’s who I am.”
When Heat two-way contract guard Isaiah Stevens was asked in January who he studies defensively, he pointed to Mitchell and said: “Davion Mitchell is setting the tone for smaller guards. I’ve been watching a lot of him. He has special gifts that you can’t really teach”
Mitchell, who was drafted by the Kings with the ninth overall pick in 2021, is earning $6.5 million this season and can be a restricted free agent this upcoming summer.
With the trade, the Heat moved under the first apron and significantly lowered its luxury tax bill. The Heat now stands about $2 million under the first apron and is now about $2.7 million above the luxury tax line, as it went from facing a luxury tax bill for this season of about $23.8 million before the trade to a tax bill of just about $4 million after the trade.
By getting under the first apron, the Heat is now also able to sign any player waived/bought out during the season. But signing such a player with a pre-waiver salary of more than $12.8 million will hard cap the Heat at the first apron of $178.1 million this season.
While the Heat opted to send Butler to the Warriors, there was more confirmation on Thursday that the Heat pursued Phoenix Suns star forward Kevin Durant before trading Butler to Golden State. But the Suns asked for more than the Heat was willing to trade for the future Hall of Famer, with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reporting that the Suns made a “massive request, picks, young players” when the Heat asked for Durant.
The Heat entered Thursday in sixth place in the Eastern Conference at 25-24 and comes out of the trade deadline with a roster that’s currently at the NBA maximum of 15 players: Bam Adebayo, Anderson, Alec Burks, Tyler Herro, Haywood Highsmith, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Keshad Johnson, Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larsson, Kevin Love, Mitchell, Duncan Robinson, Dru Smith, Kel’el Ware and Wiggins.
This story was originally published February 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM.
