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At some point in the last several days, Stephen Curry had a conversation with Kevin Durant that convinced him a reunion was extremely unlikely, no matter how much the Golden State Warriors ownership group and front office collectively “underestimated” Durant’s coldness toward a return, as one team source put it.
Eventually the decision-makers accepted the inevitable and pivoted their NBA trade deadline plans to Jimmy Butler. Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause locked the Phoenix Suns out of the Butler sweepstakes. That piece of unchanging information allowed general manager Mike Dunleavy, owner Joe Lacob and assistant general manager Kirk Lacob a level of patience, even while Butler postured about his lack of Warriors’ interest in hopes of a miracle in Phoenix, where a longer max extension awaited.
Butler and the Warriors can be viewed as backup plans for each other, a marriage of circumstance between two sides who desired — and probably still do desire — others. But they’re here now. The Warriors used their leverage as the Miami Heat’s best leftover suitor to flip Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder, Kyle Anderson and a 2025 top-10 protected first-rounder for Butler, in what they believe is a modest outgoing package for the Curry co-star they so desperately craved.
It was agreed upon in the early evening Wednesday, generating a tricky scene on the ground in Salt Lake City. Wiggins, warming up at half-speed with a spooked look, was stopped on his way back to the locker room for a conversation he’d been dreading. It was the first and toughest of four conversations coach Steve Kerr had with the four departing players. Kerr then gathered the entire team, kicked reporters out and had what Kevon Looney said was “up there” with the most emotional meetings he’s experienced in his decade with the Warriors.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Warriors are exchanging Wiggins for Butler at the top of their rotation. That turns a durable 3-and-D wing into a higher-usage, higher-upside scorer and tone-setter to take pressure off Curry. Schröder and Anderson were more ancillary players in a crowded rotation. The 2025 top-10 protected first-rounder was viewed as expendable, team sources said, considering the Warriors had scouted the draft and didn’t love the prospect pool in the late lottery and beyond.
So the riskiest part of this trade might’ve been the contractual aspect that bumped it across the finish line. The Warriors agreed to give Butler a two-year, $112 million extension. He declined his player option in the process. So it’s essentially an extra one-year, $58 million commitment to Butler for his age-37 season, lining his contract length up with Curry’s and Draymond Green’s.
That clouds Golden State’s future books, especially considering the looming restricted free agency for Jonathan Kuminga and the front office’s maintained desire, team sources said, to bring Kuminga back at what is expected to be a pricey figure.
But Butler clearly needed an extra level of security for this partnership to get off on the right foot. So the Warriors delivered it.
The Warriors started to explore the feasibility of the Durant dream late last week and, in the process, Green’s name was floated. It’s plausible he would’ve been sent to Phoenix if some of the theoretical structures materialized. That possibility surfaced in one of The Athletic’s intel reports. Green said he never went to the front office for reassurance he’d stick around.
With the Butler move and extension, lining up the contracts of all three of their signature players, the Warriors instead sent the opposite signal to Green. This is Dunleavy and Lacob committing to Curry, Green and Butler riding it out.
One thousand percent, that’s the goal. That’s what they’ve done. We appreciate it.
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