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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …

JIMMY BUTLER AND THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

Jimmy Butler got his way — and his money — and the Warriors got a star. The Heat sent their disgruntled forward to Golden State in a four-team deal. Here are the details:

• Warriors get: Jimmy Butler
• Heat get: Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, P.J. Tucker, top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick
• Jazz get: Dennis Schroder
• Pistons get: Lindy Waters III, Josh Richardson

Shortly after the trade, Butler agreed to a two-year, $111 million extension with his new team. It was reported just days ago that Butler wouldn’t sign an extension with Golden State, which paused trade talks, but apparently he changed his mind.

Now, it seems that everyone got what they wanted, given the circumstances.

So now the Warriors get one more shot — well, three more shots, really. Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are all under contract through 2026-27. Golden State got a “B+” in Sam Quinn’s trade grades because Butler “does things the Warriors badly need,” and Brad Botkin says this move gives Curry the fighting chance he deserves.

• Botkin: “Does Butler make the Warriors better? No question. Does he make the Warriors a threat to make playoff noise? Absolutely. Does he make the Warriors a title contender? Probably not. But probably is the operative term there. Before Butler, the answer to whether the Warriors were a title contender was absolutely not. … Curry deserves a chance to compete. Beyond that, nothing can be guaranteed. But he has earned the irrefutable right to go out fighting. And I’ll tell you this, there aren’t many players you’d rather go into a basketball fight with than Playoff Jimmy.”

Furthermore, Curry wanted Golden State to avoid a “desperate” trade, and James Herbert says the Warriors succeeded.

👍 Honorable mentions

• Ahead of the NFL Honors tonight, we handed out our awards, including a very close race between Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen for MVP.
• The Chiefs are trying to become the first team with a Super Bowl three-peat, but one player has done it before.
• Christian Gonzalez is excited for Mike Vrabel to get the Patriots on track. Also, could New England trade one of its quarterbacks?
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another 50-point game, his third in his last seven games.
• Darius Garland from the logo for the win!!!
• Remember JJ Redick vs. Adam Morrison? Patrick Ewing vs. Chris Mullin? Cooper Flagg vs. Johni Broome is turning into an all-time Player of the Year race on that level, Matt Norlander writes. Matt’s latest Court Report is a can’t-miss.
• Speaking of Flagg, the NCAA Tournament will have arguably the best one-and-done class ever on display, David Cobb writes.
• Brian Hartline is being promoted to Ohio State offensive coordinator.
• Florida is hiring Robert Bala as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
• What if college football had trades? Brad Crawford has four hypothetical deals for 2025 CFP teams.
• The Astros will retire Billy Wagner‘s number.
• The Twins signed Harrison Bader.
• On National Signing Day, Michigan landed four-star tackle Ty Haywood, and Maryland landed four-star EDGE Zahir Mathis. Here’s our tracker.
• Here are 10 late commitments to watch.
• Ron Rivera is returning to Cal in a GM-like role.

😖 And not such a good morning for …

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THE MIAMI HEAT

So the Jimmy Butler era in Miami is over. For five seasons, it was magnificent. The NBA Finals runs in 2020 and 2023 are the stuff of absolute legends.

But the sixth season was a disaster: team and star estranged before ultimately going their separate ways. Never mind the Heat’s “D+” in Sam’s trade grades for an underwhelming return. It was always going to be underwhelming after what conspired recently: Butler’s behavior made things difficult, and Pat Riley didn’t help by insisting he wouldn’t trade Butler. 

Instead, what’s most disappointing is the Heat ending up desperate sellers, a devastating truth for a franchise that has long prided itself on its culture. At many points, Butler embodied that culture, but in the end, he disrupted it, and that cost Miami dearly.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

• This loss still haunts Patrick Mahomes.
• Terrell Owens believes referees show “blatant” Chiefs favoritism.
• Micah Parsons doesn’t think Derrick Henry would have saved the Cowboys‘ tough 2024.
• Josh Jacobs had some harsh words evaluating the Packers‘ wide receivers.
• Brian Kelly denies cutting off contact with former LSU player Greg Brooks Jr., whose family says Kelly and his staff haven’t reached out to Brooks during his battle with cancer.
• Ed Cooley confronted a fan who, according to Cooley, threatened a Georgetown player.
• Overall, National Signing Day was quiet, and Tom Fornelli says that’s bad for the future of the sport.
• The NWSL will pay $5 million in a settlement over mistreatment of players.

🏀 NBA trade deadline: Mark Williams, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Khris Middleton all on the move

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While the Butler deal was the headliner, it was far from the only move Wednesday. In fact, we got two late-night specials: Mark Williams is headed to the Lakers and Brandon Ingram is heading to the Raptors.

Let’s start with the Lakers’ latest big move:

• Lakers get: Mark Williams
• Hornets get: Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, 2030 first-round swap, unprotected 2031 first-round pick

Los Angeles got the big man they desperately needed after the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis stunner and paid a hefty price for him. If you don’t know Williams because the Hornets stink, it’s time to get introduced. He’s averaging a near double-double (15.6 points, 9.6 rebounds) while blocking a shot per game. He is the perfect big man to pair with Doncic: a versatile, mobile lob threat, and he’s only 23. Oh yeah, and the Lakers also have some guy named LeBron James, too.

The Lakers have absolutely crushed the trade deadline in the short and long terms, Brad writes.

• Botkin: “Now, just in time for LeBron to age out, Luka Doncic falls into their lap. And if that wasn’t enough, they had sufficient draft capital left over from the Luka heist to land Mark Williams, who isn’t going to be a name many casual fans have heard much about, but is an absolute steal who fills the one hole that the Lakers had left and profiles as the exact type of lob-threat center Doncic covets.”

Here are Sam’s trade grades.

That came shortly after the Ingram deal, which is as follows:

• Raptors get: Brandon Ingram
• Pelicans get: Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, top-four protected 2026 first-round pick (via Pacers), second-round pick

Ingram, 27, has been out since early December with an ankle injury, and injuries as a whole have been an issue. But the guy can really score — over 20 points per game in each of his six years in New Orleans — and just wasn’t a fit alongside Zion Williamson, who has also had major injury issues.

It’s far from perfect either way (I favor the Raptors’ side, assuming they re-sign Ingram this offseason), so the teams earned similar marks in Sam’s trade grades.

Earlier in the day, the Bucks acquired Kyle Kuzma from the Wizards, sending Khris Middleton to Washington. The Knicks were also involved. Here are the full details:

• Bucks get: Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr., Jericho Sims, 2025 second-round pick, draft rights to Mathias Lessort
• Wizards get: Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, 2028 pick swap
• Knicks get: Delon Wright, draft rights to Hugo Besson, cash

Middleton was with Milwaukee since 2013, made three All-Star Games and, most importantly, was marvelous in the Bucks’ 2021 championship run. Injuries have plagued him since, though. Those issues, combined with this helping the Bucks’ financial flexibility, led to his ouster. Still, Jack Maloney’s trade grades were none too kind to Milwaukee.

Here’s more for deadline day:

⚾ Pete Alonso returns to Mets

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Pete Alonso isn’t going anywhere. The Mets‘ slugging first baseman agreed to a two-year, $54 million deal to stay with the only MLB team he’s ever known.

• Alonso, 29, will earn $30 million in the first year and has an opt-out after that.
• He’s a four-time All Star and two-time Home Run Derby champion in six year with the Mets.
• His 226 career home runs are third in franchise history. He’ll pass Darryl Strawberry‘s record (252) this season if he maintains his career pace: He’s hit 34 home runs in every full-length season in the bigs.

R.J. Anderson ranked Alonso the No. 11 free agent in the class.

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

🏀 No. 5 UConn at No. 19 Tennessee (W), 6:30 p.m. on ESPN

🏀 No. 18 Maryland at Ohio State (M), 7 p.m. on FS1

🏀 Mavericks at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV

🏀 Stanford at No. 3 Notre Dame (W), 8:30 p.m. on ESPN

🏈 NFL Honors, 9 p.m. on Fox/NFL Network

🏀 Warriors at Lakers, 10 p.m. on TNT/truTV