Jimmy Butler may have saved the Bucks from themselves by saying he doesn't want to play there
By Quinn Everts
Jimmy Butler's list of preferred trade destinations dwindled from "anywhere other than Miami" to what seems to be about four teams very quickly. One of the teams that Butler is not interested in playing for is the Milwaukee Bucks, according to Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports.
That's probably a good thing for the Milwaukee Bucks. I don't doubt that Jimmy Butler would improve the Milwaukee Bucks pretty significantly in 2025 — but I don't think it would leapfrog them past the Cavs, Celtics or Knicks. And usually, that wouldn't matter to me. I think if teams can go get stars, they should do it 99% of the time. But this is the exception, and Bucks fans should breathe a sigh of relief that Milwaukee isn't on Butler's list of preferred teams.
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Lot of rumblings that the Milwaukee Bucks have also been informed not to trade for Jimmy Butler.@ChrisBHaynes reported earlier the Memphis Grizzlies were told not to. That’s now two playoff teams Butler could be refusing.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) January 7, 2025
So…does Pat Riley give Jimmy what he wants?
Milwaukee's future is scary enough
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the three best players in the NBA. As long as he's on the Bucks roster, they have a chance to compete with anyone. But a lot of the rest of the Bucks roster is aging out of their respective primes, and the Bucks don't have a surefire young star to take up the mantle next to Giannis in coming years.
A soon-to-be 36 year old Jimmy Butler isn't going to be that guy. What would the best-case scenario be for this Bucks roster, plus Jimmy Butler? A second-round playoff exit — maybe the ECF if everything breaks right — and then Butler extends in the offseason? In that scenario, the Bucks are paying him when he's 40 and the already limited cap flexibility they have would be destroyed.
Milwaukee's in a tough spot — adding a disgruntled veteran who could jump ship after this season would not have been the move to fix everything, so Milwaukee is probably better off staying on the "no" list from Jimmy Butler.