A need for more size and shooting could lead the Golden State Warriors to a potential move for Bobby Portis this offseason, with the Milwaukee Bucks big man a potential free agent given his $13.4 million player option.
The Warriors have already been linked to Portis in a report earlier this month from NBA insider Jake Fischer who cited the relationship between Steve Kerr and the 30-year-old from their time together with Team USA.
Yet it’s another relationship that could be just as important in helping to get Portis to the Bay, with the 10-year veteran actually a former teammate of current Golden State forward Jimmy Butler.
Jimmy Butler could help attract Bobby Portis to the Warriors
Butler and Portis played 111 games together as members of the Chicago Bulls, including making the 2017 playoffs together where they ultimately lost 4-2 in the first-round to the Boston Celtics.
While it’s been a long time since the two were teammates, there’s clearly still respect there based on a quote from Portis ahead of the Bucks meeting with the Miami Heat in the first-round of the 2021 playoffs.
“When you have heart like that and competitive spirit, they do all these tests in the draft, how high you can jump and this and that, but you can’t test nobody’s heart,” Portis said. “And that’s one thing he (Butler) has. He has a lot of heart and he has a lot of dog in him.”
The two also met in the first-round in 2023 when Butler’s Heat shocked the NBA world and took out the top-seed Bucks on their way to the NBA Finals. Perhaps now the pair may be able to reunite as teammates, with Tim Kawakami of the San Fransisco Standard increasing speculation with this statement on Tuesday.
“The Warriors probably will try to talk to Portis, who can be a free agent and profiles as an almost ideal Warriors second-unit scorer,” Kawakami wrote.
Beyond being former teammates, Butler and Portis would be an excellent fit together to solve Golden State’s offensive issues in the non-Stephen Curry minutes. Portis has the ability to spot up in the corner and take advantage of Butler drives, having shot 38.3% from 3-point range for his career.
The 6’10” big man can also create his own shot out of the mid-range area, something that might be beneficial to the Warriors who offense can get stale when Curry is off the floor. Portis averaged 13.9 points and 8.4 rebounds with the Bucks this season, having finished third in Sixth Man of the year voting in each of the prior two years.
Given Golden State’s own financial position, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be simply able to sign Portis outright as a free agent in the coming fortnight. An opt in and trade or sign-and-trade could still be a possibility though, particularly if Portis has interest in playing with Butler once again.
