Jimmy Butler isn’t Kevin Durant. He’s exactly what the Warriors need

PHOENIX – Jimmy Butler crashed in a rim-rattling dunk in the third quarter of Golden State’s 133-95 romp in Phoenix on Tuesday night. 

It was a rare ‘loud’ play for a superstar who thrives in the more subtle spaces between his more outwardly-audacious teammates.

“I just want to do whatever it takes to win,” Butler said. “If you’re open, my job is to get you the ball.” 

Butler took four shots, grabbed two rebounds and had three assists in a stat-line that vastly understated his impact.

Butler ran the offense and rumbled on the low block as the team’s power forward next to a locked-in Draymond Green, playing defense that energized a Warriors team that saw every player on the active roster get playing time against Phoenix. 

Elsewhere in the building was Kevin Durant, the one-time Warriors megastar who has missed the past four games with an ankle injury. 

His team has lost seven consecutive games, playoff elimination all but a certainty. 

This winter, Kevin Durant was reportedly linked to the Warriors as the trade deadline approached, the team kicking the tires on reuniting the iconic pair of Curry and KD. 

Instead, the deal fell through, and Golden State shipped Andrew Wiggins to South Beach for Butler, who had been linked to Phoenix for months.  

Two months later, it is impossible to argue the Warriors made the wrong choice.

Yes, the individual statistics are in Durant’s favor. 

The 6-foot-10 scoring machine has averaged 26 points to go along with six rebounds and 4.4 assists in 23 games played. Butler, a mere 16.7 points, 5.7 boards and 5.7 assists in 27 games. 

But the win column, team stats and testimony of Butler’s impact from teammates paint another story. 

“I think everybody knows Jimmy as Playoff Jimmy, the guy that scored 50 in the finals and all that type of stuff,” Brandin Podziemski said. “But I think so far, sometimes he almost passes to a fault. We want Jimmy to be ultra-aggressive.”

Golden State is 22-6 since the trade, jumping from the No. 10 seed to a team battling for homecourt advantage in the first round.

The Suns went 9-14 during that stretch when Durant played. 

The Warriors defense had the second-highest defensive rating (109.4) in the NBA while ranking first in steals and points off turnovers since Butler arrived. His ability to get to the line (7.2 attempts per game) has also boosted Golden State to being the third-most prolific FT shooting team since the trade.

While he has not had the 40-point scoring binges who earned him his Playoff Jimmy nickname, Butler has consistently provided Golden State with clutch baskets down the stretch. 

There’s a reason coach Steve Kerr has repeatedly said that the Butler trade “saved” the Warriors’ season. 

While a Durant-Curry pairing would have made for nostalgic and fun moments, the addition of Butler has rocketed Golden State up the Western Conference standings. 

The Warriors are 47-32, seeded sixth and in a four-way tie with the Los Angeles Clippers, the imploding Nuggets and seventh-seeded Grizzlies.

Butler and the Warriors will play host to San Antonio on Wednesday.