The blockbuster mid-season trade for Jimmy Butler reinvigorated the Golden State Warriors, ultimately leading the franchise back to the playoffs despite sitting as the 11th-seed in the Western Conference just over two months ago.
Not only has the trade revitalized Butler who's now looking for another unlikely long playoff run, it's also proved beneficial for the other four players involved in the deal. Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson made significant impact in leading the Miami Heat to the playoffs with back-to-back Play-In wins, while Dennis Schroder and Lindy Waters II have also reached the postseason as members of the sixth-seed Detroit Pistons.
Butler's arrival has also benefited a number of his new Golden State teammates, namely a trio of young players in Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Quinten Post, and of course fellow veteran star Stephen Curry.
Jonathan Kuminga is the biggest loser of the Jimmy Butler trade
There's few who have really lost as a result of the trade, but one obvious player who's been negatively impacted is Jonathan Kuminga. Warrior head coach Steve Kerr has said that himself, further detailing the struggle to play Butler and Kuminga together in an interview with 95.7 The Game's Willard and Dibs earlier this week.
"To be very frank, the Jimmy/JK combination has not been great, and that's the tricky part here," Kerr said. "And I'm playing Jimmy 40 minutes a night because Jimmy is, he's one of the very best players in the league."
Kuminga has gone from arguably the best period of his career pre-Butler, to now being out of the rotation entirely over Golden State's last two games. Of course, a lengthy 31-game absence didn't help matters, significantly shortening the runway for the 22-year-old to re-integrate to a new-look team upon his return from injury.
The Warriors have a -6.8 net rating in 125 minutes with Kuminga and Butler together on the floor. While that's not completely disastrous, it's clearly enough for Kerr to make the bold decision to axe Kuminga from the rotation.
Yet not only does this have to be viewed in the sphere of Kuminga losing his role and minutes, there's also the perspective of just how much the former seventh overall pick will lose financially as a result of the Butler trade.
Kuminga was potentially in line for a $120+ million deal as a restricted free agent this offseason, but could now lose tens of millions depending on how rival teams view Kerr's decision to remove him from the rotation.
Perhaps things can stunningly turnaround for Kuminga during the playoffs, but that would be a drastic change from the general trend we've seen over recent weeks.
