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The Warriors are at the ultra-gallows humor portion of this era, at least they were Monday night, as Jimmy Butler was sprawled on the floor in agony and his teammates huddled around him, watching their playoff hopes flash away before their eyes.
“It’s kind of funny, he was still cracking jokes when he was on the ground, Jimmy fashion,” Stephen Curry said after the game. “Respect that part of his personality.
“Even at the worst moment, he was still having a good time. He was trying to get to the free-throw line. He said it was two shots.”
It was the worst moment of an already fragile period for a franchise that is admittedly just trying to hang on as long as possible. Or, at this point, to decide whether it is worth it to keep trying.
I think it’s still worth it. I’m guessing that Joe Lacob, Mike Dunleavy, Stephen Curry, and Steve Kerr still think it’s worth it. But only so much was possible even before Butler was lost, and now it’s all decidedly less so.
It might be over. It might’ve actually been over a few years ago, but losing Butler could really signal that even the faintest hope of one more Curry title run is all but deleted. But what were Butler and the Warriors going to do about it right then and there — start weeping about it? No, it was time to snap off a few one-liners.
How’s that for laughing in the face of their own mortality?
At the time Butler was trying to lighten the mood, nobody knew for sure that he’d suffered a torn ACL in his right knee and would be lost for the rest of this season and into 2026-27 (as the MRI late Monday night later confirmed). But everybody could guess it.
Everybody had to know that this season had changed just as dramatically as last season changed once Butler arrived in a monumental trade less than 11 months ago.
So are the Warriors flipping right back to the tired, mediocre, end-of-the-run team they were in January 2025?
They finished off the Heat on Monday after Butler’s injury, getting the kind of supplemental performances from Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Al Horford, and Buddy Hield that have lifted them to a 6-1 record during this long home stretch.
But the Warriors will go out on the road again soon, they will play tougher teams, and they will very, very much feel the absence of Butler. There is no getting around any of that.
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So … what do they do now? It’s an exponential squeeze on this declining dynasty — the same questions in a worse situation.
First off, let’s just say that it would be extremely out of character for a Lacob/Dunleavy team to toss away this season and tank for a better draft pick, and I guarantee you that Curry wouldn’t sign up for that, either.
They want to play meaningful basketball. Tanking wouldn’t do a whole lot for them, anyway, because there are six or seven teams already ahead of them in this process this season and a few more that could join the free fall.
So the Warriors will have even more urgency to make a trade by the Feb. 5 deadline and that trade will almost certainly involve Jonathan Kuminga.
But how many times can the Warriors re-engage the handful of teams that have shown interest in Kuminga? Those calls won’t be any easier now that those teams could suspect the Warriors shifting into panic mode, obviously.
Is it possible that getting Kuminga back on the floor could be part of the solution for the Warriors before and maybe even after the deadline?
“Sure, absolutely,” Kerr said when asked if Kuminga could be an option in the post-Butler situation.
But the terseness of that answer said more: Kerr decided weeks ago that Kuminga doesn’t fit the rhythm and mood of this team and losing Butler isn’t going to meaningfully alter that conclusion. Kuminga probably will get some minutes. He will be given half a chance. It probably won’t work in the same ways it hasn’t worked in recent months.
If Kuminga can’t get the Warriors much in a trade, how many of their three tradeable future first-round picks might they put into a trade offer for, say, Trey Murphy III? Two? Do Lacob and Dunleavy have the appetite for moving away that much of their future?
Same questions, almost certainly the same results.
I also don’t think the Warriors have much interest in acquiring an ill-fitting big-name player with a lot of financial or emotional baggage attached. They could explore trading Butler, whose deal turns into a one-year $56.8 million expiring contract next season.
But they got lucky with Butler last February and it would be more than risky for them to try that road again. So I’d rule out Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Zach LaVine, and a few others.
The Warriors also almost certainly will look at more moderate deals — that they were probably already weighing in the Kuminga talks. I think DeMar DeRozan would be a very interesting candidate in this category. He wouldn’t replace Butler, but the Warriors could convince themselves that a De’Anthony Melton/DeRozan/Al Horford second unit might be very useful the rest of this season.
Jimmy Butler’s injury won’t stop the Warriors from looking into trades involving Jonathan Kuminga. | Source: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
If the Warriors can’t get Murphy, or decide that the price is too high, I’ll nominate one potential difference-making name who could instantly help fill the Butler void and would be signed and in his prime for several more years.
It’s somebody they’ve chased before but might not have been on their current radar (because the trade price remains extremely high) until after the Butler injury. How about Lauri Markkanen?
The Warriors came reasonably close to landing Markkanen two summers ago, before he signed his four-year, $196-million extension, but couldn’t get Utah to agree on the trade return. Basically, the Warriors didn’t want to put in all of their tradeable draft choices, then used a portion of the assets they were dangling for Markkanen to get Butler seven months later.
Well, right now, they have more tradeable picks. And they don’t have a healthy Butler. I think the Warriors might have new motivation to go all-in on Markkanen.
Markkanen has had his ups and downs since July 2024, but he’s still only 28, is a shooting big man who can pair with Draymond Green on the frontline, and might be gettable if the Warriors are willing to put all three first-round picks into the pot.
The Warriors would also have to include Kuminga and several others to make the money work. Or it could be for Butler, though the Jazz likely wouldn’t be interested in that formulation.
(Note: The Warriors also famously chased Paul George alongside Markkanen two summers ago. They will not be chasing George this time.)
Does Markkanen, who’s having a very solid season after a struggle in 2024-25, really want to stick around during Utah’s endless tank? Wouldn’t the Jazz think about cashing out on his value, finally?
The Warriors haven’t wanted to put all three picks into any trade, unless it involves Giannis Antetokounmpo; and they might not want to go all-in now on another player, fearing that Giannis might come available down the road.
But they have a new situation here, at the end of all plausible dynastic ambitions. The first-round picks are valuable — and I don’t dispute the Warriors’ desire to make sure they don’t leave themselves barren for the post-Curry universe. You don’t just throw future picks away. You could also use them for a smart trade down the road, when everything isn’t an emergency.
You also sometimes do have to react urgently to emergencies. Curry remains great. The Warriors have played themselves back into reasonable shape in the Western Conference standings. They’re not title contenders, but their games can still be meaningful this season and into next season, when they can have Butler back healthy (by midseason).
Every season is precious. Every week of basketball with Curry is precious. There’s a way for the Warriors to prove this, even after losing Butler. It won’t be painless, but nothing at the end of a dynasty ever is.
