Skip to main content

Ex-Warriors teammate of Kevin Durant is adamant that Suns should trade for Jimmy Butler

Posted on December 20, 2024 - 1:57 am by

DeMarcus Cousins, a former Golden State Warriors teammate of Kevin Durant’s, has now chimed in on the Jimmy Butler to the Phoenix Suns trade rumors. On Wednesday he was asked by three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams on FanDuel’s flagship NBA show “Run It Back” — if the Suns should “look into a swap for Jimmy (Butler) for (Bradley) Beal.”

“Hell yes,” Cousins remarked. “It should have been yesterday. And no disrespect to Beal; it’s just not a good fit with what you’ve got going on with D-Book and Kevin Durant. It never made sense. It got a little better with them adding a point guard in the mix, but it still just doesn’t make sense.

“You add a guy like Jimmy Butler that can play both sides of the ball — give you 15 to 20 points on a nightly basis, and guard the best player. That’s a better fit next to a Kevin Durant and a Devin Booker.”

Butler has averaged 19.4 points per game and 1.3 steals per game this season. Beal has averaged 17.8 points per game and 1.1 steals per game this season. The Suns are 8-2 when Durant, Booker and Beal are on the floor together this season.

Williams later stated that if Butler is in Phoenix, he does not need the ball as much. Cousins doubled down, saying Butler does not need it much “at all” and that he thinks that Butler is OK with that. Williams then added that Butler is “cool with doing the dirty work,” and Cousins agreed.



“That’s who Jimmy is,” Cousins said. “If you looked at him early in his career, that’s exactly who he was in Chicago. So him going back to that role? I think they’re a championship-caliber team.”

Butler averaged 15.6 points per game and 1.5 steals per game in Chicago, where he played the first six seasons of his career. He attempted a career-low 11.2 field-goal attempts per game with the Bulls. Beal is averaging 13.8 field-goal attempts per game this year with Phoenix.