Jimmy Butler is officially a member of the Golden State Warriors. The question, of course, becomes whether he will be a fit with the Golden State Warriors, after signing a two-year, $112 million extension.
Butler's first choice was clearly the Phoenix Suns. Joe Lacob told The Athletic's Anthony Slater the Warriors had to help "amend" his thinking, and realize wanted to be with Golden State.
“He was trying to get where he thought he wanted to go,” Lacob told Slater. “He just happened to be thinking incorrectly at the time. That’s now been amended.”
For Butler's part, he sounded relieved to be out of Miami, but was a little clunky when asked about Phoenix being his preference. The Warriors clearly weren't his top choice.
"This is a great choice," Butler said. "And the best part about everything is I never say anything. So nobody actually really knows what's really going on, because it never comes from my mouth. So out of everything that's been going on, I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be able to play basketball again, and meaningful basketball at that. So I always leave it at that."
But that probably doesn't matter at this point. Butler got his extension and got out of Miami.
"For myself, I'm just so happy to be playing basketball again, honestly, but for an organization like this one with some hellified talent that we have," Butler said. "I'm glad that I get the opportunity to get here and help get us to winning and do something special. I think that's why I'm here, and I will do my best to do what everybody wants, and that's to win a championship."
Butler said he's "in shape" and is prepared to play. He's slated to debut Saturday, in Chicago, against the Bulls.
The short and long term question for the Warriors is whether Butler's personality will mesh with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and the rest of the team. Butler believes they will.
"I think our personalities are going to be fine," Butler said. "I would like to say that I am a winner. I haven't won it, but I would like to call myself a winner. I do want to win it. It being a championship. And as far as playing with Steph, I mean, everybody knows he's the greatest shooter in the world, greatest shooter in history. Makes my job a lot easier. I probably got a lot more space out there. But more than anything, I think it's always going to be a team effort. We all got a lot more space out there. So let's see how it goes."
He added a little levity, too, when asked about meshing with Curry.
"We good," Butler said. "Pass the ball to Steph and get out the way. Easy."