Building the Perfect Lakers Trade for Jimmy Butler

How Los Angeles can add one of the East's best two-way wings.
Dec 4, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) goes up for a layup against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Dec 4, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) goes up for a layup against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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At 13-11, the Los Angeles Lakers hardly look like serious contenders for a deep NBA playoff run.

That has less to do with the performance of new head coach J.J. Redick (at the same point last year under former head coach Darvin Ham, with 13 of their 15 standard roster players being exactly the same as they are this year, the Lakers were 14-10) than it does with team vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka's personnel decisions over the years.

Really, Pelinka is still trying to recover from the disastrous transactions he made in the summer of 2021. That offseason, he flipped former champions Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, plus Montrezl Harrell and a first round draft pick, to the Washington Wizards in exchange for a washed-up Russell Westbrook. He also let eventual two-time All-Defensive Teamer Alex Caruso, another key component of L.A.'s 2020 title run, depart in free agency for the Chicago Bulls, prioritizing underwhelming young guard Talen Horton-Tucker. His only good move of that summer? Picking up undrafted free agent guard Austin Reaves, who is now L.A.'s third-best player.

The team did make a return to the Western Conference Finals in 2023, but otherwise has either finished as a play-in team (twice) or outside of the playoffs entirely (once, during that one doomed full Westbrook year — he was dealt midway through 2022-23).

So what can Pelinka do to improve the club right now, and try to help his All-NBA tandem of power forward LeBron James, 39, and center Anthony Davis, 31, win another title together?

Realistically, given the team's limited future draft equity, it would probably be easiest for Pelinka to acquire role players on mid-sized contracts — ideally shoring up the Lakers' perimeter defense and center depth behind Davis.

But what if he could add six-time Miami Heat All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler, who apparently has indicated that he's open to being traded this year? The 35-year-old Marquette product, who fell to the Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals, remains one of the league's best two-way wings when healthy, though nagging minor injuries have limited his availability somewhat. This year, in his 17 healthy games for the 12-10 Heat, the five-time All-NBA honoree is averaging a solid stat line of 19.0 points on .557/.360/.787 shooting splits, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

He'd add another supplemental playmaker alongside James (and Reaves, if he someone survives a trade), could be counted on to make an open jumper (from 3-point land or the midrange), is elite at drawing contact and getting to the foul line, and could take the Lakers' toughest defensive assignments along the wing. In a Western Conference that's currently led by three clubs with youth and depth in the 19-5 Oklahoma City Thunder, the 17-8 Houston Rockets, and the 17-8 Memphis Grizzlies, even Butler's arrival may not be able to put L.A. in that standing for the regular season. But with the right depth (acquired either in separate trades or with buyout market signings), maybe the Lakers could have an actual title shot in the postseason.

So what would an ideal Butler trade look like?

Unfortunately, it will probably cost the Lakers two of their most prized young assets, plus some first round picks, to acquire a star of Butler's caliber — even though Butler possesses a $52.4 million player option for 2025-26, and thus could become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

The two non-James or -Davis players Miami's front office, led by Hall of Fame former Lakers head coach Pat Riley, would most covet would clearly be Reaves (on a steal of a four-year deal) and probable All-Rookie First Team swingman Dalton Knecht. Reaves, still just 26, is in the second season of a below-market four-year, $53.8 million contract he inked with L.A. as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2023. The Oklahoma product is averaging a career-best 16.7 points while slashing .440/.355/.774, along with 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals a night. He has thrived as a supplemental ball handler alongside James, and in a Butler deal would (at least initially) be given the keys to the kingdom in Miami. He does have some untapped upside as a shooter and scorer, and would be the present-day jewel of the trade. Combo forward Rui Hachimura, on a solid $17 million deal, at least has some upside and intrigue still that perhaps the league's best coach, Erik Spoelstra, could tap into.

Point guard D'Angelo Russell is on an expiring $18.7 million deal, and would be there just for contract-matching purposes, not the future. The Lakers could trade both their 2029 and 2031 first rounders, plus through in a pair of second round picks and a first round pick swap, to sweeten the take. Perhaps L.A. could at least ask for a top-10 protection on the 2031 first, when a 38-year-old Davis will presumably be long past his All-Star prime, if he's still on the team at all.

For a deal of that magnitude, Butler would presumably have to pretty much guarantee that he will pick up his player option for next year. Otherwise, the Lakers wouldn't want to include both first round picks in that transaction. L.A. might balk at including both Reaves and Knecht, and could opt to not add the young former Tennessee swingman in the trade to preserve a cost-effective sharpshooting role player. The Heat may be still amenable to a haul of Reaves, Hachimura, Russell, a pair of first rounders, two second rounders, and a swap — a pretty good yield from an aging superstar.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Basketball is Alex's favorite sport, he likes the way they dribble up and down the court.