It has been sufficiently written about the fantastic blockbuster trade involving Mavericks and Lakers who sent Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and Anthony Davis to Dallas.
But somehow one of the biggest offers in the trade deadline – and perhaps the most expected – has been silently overlooked.
And for good reasons.
The heat shared Jimmy Butler to Golden State Warriors on Wednesday evening and marked the end of an extended feud between the pages. Miami interrupted Butler three times before sending him on the road, with the six times all-Star who only played five matches since the beginning of 2025.
Fans in Bay Area suddenly salivated the idea that Butler merged with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Should we really consider this as a “big three?”
Another aging star was the last thing Golden State needed. Butler is 35, Curry is 36 and Green is 34, leaving Warriors with a very small window to actually make some sound in a stacked Western conference.
Golden State does not win a ring with this group. It would have hurt to see Warriors completely clean houses and disassemble what was left of a once great dynasty, but the club should have bitty the bullet now. A rebuild comes for the Golden State, and all Butler’s arrival does is delay it.
Building around Jonathan Kuminga, 22 and 21-year-old Brandin Podziemski should have been Warrior’s main focus at the deadline. This meant storing drafts of choices and/or young talents that could have helped these two to flourish while getting respectable veterans to act as mentors.
Few teachers are better than curry, but I’m not sure about the biggest hot heads that the league has seen this century.
No one should be afraid of the Golden State this season, especially the Warriors competition in the West. Lakers obviously got much better by getting Doncic and Mark Williams. San Antonio Spurs has what may very well be the brightest future at the conference after adding De’aaron Fox to complement a young core entitled Victor Wembanyama. Dallas can even be able to turn some heads. After all, it has Davis and Kyrie Irving. Not a bad duo in any way.
Future drafts will also not be the Golden State saving grace. When it comes to elections in the first round, Warriors has no one this year and only a 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029. They are also without a first rounder 2030.
Golden State should have begun to go into its future. Instead, Warriors hopes for one last cheer with Butler, but it should not take long for them to realize that there is no such thing.
