Golden State Warriors 2025 NBA trade deadline grade after Jimmy Butler deal

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The Golden State Warriors were one of the biggest players of this year’s trade deadline. Instead of standing pat like they usually do, they decided to be more aggressive, pulling off at trade for Jimmy Butler and promptly giving him a two-year, $112 million contract extension to secure his services for the next two and a half seasons.

Butler is 35 years of age, and there is real risk in acquiring someone who burned nearly every bridge he had with the Miami Heat organization. Moreover, it’s not as if Butler has a clean bill of health, as he has dealt with quite a few injuries that could limit his effectiveness from here on out.

But the Warriors had to do something to give Stephen Curry and company one last shot at making a deep playoff run. It has become clear that Golden State can no longer compete with the big boys of the league as they were constructed prior to the Butler trade, and they are banking on the 35-year-old’s ability to carry a team on his back as evidenced by the way he put the Heat on his shoulders back in 2020 and 2023, leading an under-talented Miami squad all the way to the NBA Finals.

Considering the other options the Warriors had on the table, however, one would have to argue that this wasn’t the best-case scenario for them in the aftermath of the trade deadline.

Warriors gamble on Jimmy Butler’s ability to return to form

This is not to say that the Warriors’ acquisition of Jimmy Butler is a bad move in any capacity. On the contrary, Butler is an excellent addition for the Warriors, although it did cost them some real pieces in Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson, as well as the top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick that they are hoping would convey this year. Butler gives the Dubs another player who can command double teams, with the 35-year-old forward doing the bulk of his damage in the mid-post area, backing down physically weaker defenders.

Butler, when motivated, can also lock up the opposition’s best player, while he also has the playmaking chops and willingness to become a hub in the Warriors’ offense. And since the Dubs gave Butler the contract he was looking for, there is no real reason to expect him not give it his all in the Bay.

It’s a major win as well for the Warriors to acquire someone with a long track record of sterling postseason play like Butler without having to give up their precious young players in Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Brandin Podziemski. This will give the Warriors another avenue to acquire more talent in the future — especially once Kuminga signs his next contract.

However, the idea of what Butler can bring to the table is far more appealing than the reality of him at the moment. This season, Butler’s numbers are down across the board; he’s putting up his worst points per game average since his third year in the league, and he’s becoming older than ever with each passing day, which means that his declined state could be the new norm, not the outlier.

One might argue that Butler may simply have been sandbagging so he can get his desired trade away from the Heat. Perhaps that is true. Maybe he flips a switch and goes bonkers for the rest of the season. But there are some concerns that will only be answered for the Warriors once Butler suits up for the team.

If Butler returns to form, then the trade should be a resounding win for the Warriors, regardless of how far they make it to the playoffs. But that remains a big if at the moment.

The bill comes due for the Dubs as Kevin Durant refuses return via trade

The Warriors were very ambitious leading up to the trade deadline; they had hopes of bringing Kevin Durant back via trade, and reuniting Durant with Stephen Curry could be a real problem for the league even though they last suited up with each other donning a Golden State uniform nearly six years ago.

However, Durant made it clear that he did not want to return to the Warriors. After all, the circumstances leading up to his departure in 2019 were sour. The bill came due for the Warriors, so they had to pivot and trade for Jimmy Butler instead. Even with Durant being older, he is a better player than Butler, and he is more consistent and does not come with the sort of baggage that Butler is bringing with him.

A trade for Durant would have cost the Warriors more assets, that’s for sure. Jonathan Kuminga would have been included in the trade, as per reports, and the Dubs would have included a ton more draft picks to help the Phoenix Suns restock their cupboard.

But Durant would have been well worth it. Perhaps a Durant-Curry reunion could materialize some other time, but that time, clearly, is not yet now.

An ode to the departing Dubs — primarily Andrew Wiggins

The Warriors fanbase hasn’t yet built much of a connection with Kyle Anderson, Lindy Waters III, and especially Dennis Schroder, so losing those three in the Jimmy Butler trade wasn’t exactly emotionally moving. However, the biggest loss for Golden State is none other than Andrew Wiggins, the man who turned the narrative of his career around during the 2021-22 season.

Wiggins was being criticized throughout the years for failing to deliver on the franchise-altering promise many expected out of him when he was drafted first overall in 2014. But with the Warriors, he proved himself to be a legitimate winning player. During the 2021-22 season, Wiggins blossomed into a two-way monster, even earning himself an All-Star Game nod as a starter. And then during the 2022 NBA playoffs, that was when he truly shone.

Wiggins went to work, defending everyone from Ja Morant to Luka Doncic and then to Jayson Tatum. He was arguably the Dubs’ second-best player during their run to the championship. But now, he’s giving way for the arrival of Butler — putting an end to what a successful run he had with the franchise.

Nonetheless, while trading Wiggins away is a sad day for the Warriors faithful, some sacrifices had to be made to maximize the remaining productive years of Stephen Curry’s career by going deep into the playoffs — which is exactly what the Dubs are hoping for with the acquisition of Butler.

Warriors’ trade deadline grade: B

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