Jimmy Butler is a bonafide second star for the Warriors to place alongside Steph Curry.
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler is introduced before an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Miami. The Warriors had one route to relevancy remaining before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline — one last shot to find a second star to— who eschewed a San Francisco move earlier this week — to come west.
It cost more than $60 million each of the next two seasons, and Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder, Lindy Waters, plus a protected first-round draft pick, but those were small prices to pay.Trades might be hard, but for the Warriors, this trade was necessary and two years in the making. Because the cost of not landing a player like Butler — not finding someone who can reliably get a bucket opposite Curry in crunch-time minutes — would have been incalculable. It would have turned the Dubs into the Jonathan Kuminga show in a year or two, and that’s the best-case scenario. In the meantime, Warriors basketball would have been a slow, tedious, boring descent into the depths of nostalgia. The Forever Warriors era, if you will.In other words, it would have sent the Warriors back to the pre-Steph era, albeit with much nicer, fancier amenities around them.Kurtenbach: The desperate Warriors want you to know they’re trying really hard to make a trade And while adding Butler doesn’t ensure anything for the Dubs — not the playoffs, not runs in the Western Conference bracket, and certainly not a title — they’ll at least have a chance at being interesting and competitive for the next couple of seasons.After that, Kuminga can take over the franchise. Yes, the Warriors might not be light years ahead anymore, but after Wednesday’s trade, they can claim to be doing a version of another Dubs’ slogan:Between now and the end of the 2026-27 season, the Dubs are all-in on the Curry era. That means Draymond Green, Steve Kerr, and now Jimmy Butler — the old guard and the new, older guy — are leading the way, and the team’s current status of mediocrity is truly unacceptable. Their deals expire at the end of the 2026-27 campaign Then there’s the second timeline, led by the supposedly untouchable Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski. You can toss Trayce Jackson-Davis into that mix too, if you want. What’s that worth? Obviously not much in my book today, but things can change in a few seasons.There’s the Steph window and the beyond.So, will Butler with the Warriors work? I’ll buy stock as someone who has pushed this pairing for months. Sure, I’m concerned about Butler’s lack of floor spacing, but I’ll take his basketball IQ, defensive prowess, and shot-creating ability any day of the week.Give me the long-shot odds on a top-six spot in the Western Conference — a real playoff spot — for the Warriors. With the right matchups, winning a round or two in the postseason is a reasonable expectation. Of course, this could be a disaster: The eminently combustable Butler and Green in the same locker room? The Warriors should pay out Butler’s new deal by selling the reality show rights to that possible drama. But disaster was coming down the pipe no matter what the Warriors did. Dynasties — or whatever the Dubs are these days — rarely fade gracefully, even as Curry does just that.There were other options, perhaps better options, but those options weren’t coming to the Bay.Whether it was his paltry trade market or the Dubs’ fat contract offer that convinced him Golden State was the spot for him doesn’t matter.Golden State Warriors |The Dubs fulfilled their longstanding mandate, and didn’t jeopardize their so-called future to do it, either.And in a Western Conference that’s anyone’s to take , Golden State now has a small outside shot at raising another banner. Seeing as you can’t divide by zero — the Warriors’ title chances before landing a No. 2 to Curry — there’s no other way to call it:Dear Abby: With sobriety he became a new person -- and not a good oneAsking Eric: I saved money for my brother's kids, and their stepmother wants some for hersDear Abby: This family of slobs ruins our vacation A major Bay Area real estate firm is leaning into private listings. Critics contend buyers and sellers will be hurt A major Bay Area real estate firm is leaning into private listings. Critics contend buyers and sellers will be hurtAs EV vehicles get heavier, they're also getting more dangerous, safety experts sayDenver protest against President Trump, ICE raids draws thousands outside state Capitol Silicon Valley’s brilliant young techies help Musk, Trump penetrate government, drawing Democrats’ furyHikers now barred from crossing into Canada on Pacific Crest Trail
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