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General managers normally wait until after the trade deadline to make public comments about their team.
Nothing about the Warriors, or their current predicament, is normal.
General manager Mike Dunleavy held a press conference at Chase Center before Tuesday night’s game against the Raptors to address Jimmy Butler’s season-ending torn ACL, the direction of the franchise, and Jonathan Kuminga’s standing trade request.
In the most revealing moment of the presser, Dunleavy responded to a question about Kuminga’s trade demand with a bar.
“As far as the demand, I’m aware of that,” Dunleavy said. “When you make a demand, there needs to be demand on the market. So we’ll see where that unfolds.”
Dunleavy’s primary focus wasn’t Kuminga, but rather Butler. His signature move is acquiring the six-time All-Star ahead of last year’s deadline. Now, the 36-year-old is out for the season, facing a daunting recovery and owed $56.8 million next season. And the only way back to immediate contention would be pulling off another bold trade.
But that may not involve moving Butler’s contract, which would be the simplest path for the Warriors to match salaries with a star-level player.
“I don’t envision that,” Dunleavy said of trading Butler. “But now that you brought it up, I guess I would say what I envision for him is kind of giving us a boost next year the same way he did last year when he arrived.”
The Warriors are expected to take the next two weeks up to the Feb. 5 deadline to both evaluate the current team and navigate the trade market. Dunleavy and head coach Steve Kerr each said they believe this group — even without Butler — has enough talent to compete now, citing the new presences of Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton plus improvements from Quinten Post, Brandin Podziemski, and Moses Moody.
But they’re also under no illusions that the team is as capable as it was before Butler’s devastating injury.
“Let’s call it what it is, we’re not as good without Jimmy,” Dunleavy said.
A sad trade demand
Is it a trade demand if nobody really wants you?
That’s an oversimplified, hyperbolic assessment of Kuminga’s situation, but it’s also not that far off from how Dunleavy described the young wing’s desire for a trade out of Golden State.
Today
4 days ago
Tuesday, Jan. 13
The general manager acknowledged Kuminga’s desire and said he tells his players, including Kuminga, that he wants to help accommodate their wishes while also doing what’s best for the organization.
The Kings are one of multiple teams who have registered interest in Kuminga, per a league source, but the Warriors haven’t reciprocated intrigue in what Sacramento has put on the table. Dunleavy declined to get into the specifics of Kuminga’s trade market, but it’s quite possible his popularity around the league is tepid — even with his eminently flexible contract.
Dunleavy added that Kuminga’s string of DNPs haven’t hurt his value; Kuminga played just 10 minutes in the past six weeks before rejoining Kerr’s rotation on Tuesday.
The tone and content of Dunleavy’s comments weren’t quite those of an executive trying to make nice with a disaffected player. Dunleavy said he’d hope Kuminga would be ready to play if his number was called, and that it’s his job to be professional and stay ready.
“I think there’s a path and a way for him to help us win games,” Dunleavy said. “He knows what that is. If he can do those things, there’s no doubt I think he can help us.”
Everyone knows what those things are. You know how? Because Kerr has said them over and over again, both to Kuminga and to the media — defend with intensity, rebound, run the floor, make quick decisions, take care of the ball, and avoid early-clock deep twos.
That Dunleavy alluded to that signals perhaps the front office’s most public support of Kerr on the Kuminga topic.
If there were any concerns that the Warriors would take Butler’s injury as an opportunity to lean into Kuminga and the second timeline — and away from Kerr — Dunleavy’s 11-minute address should quell them.
Then again, Kuminga did all those things Kerr has sought in a resounding return against the Raptors. He checked in and received an ovation from the Chase Center crowd before playing with energy in 21 high-impact minutes. He finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and two assists in the Warriors’ 145-127 defeat. He’s in line to remain in the mix for Golden State’s upcoming road trip to Dallas, Minnesota, and Utah.
Jonathan Kuminga appeared in his first game for the Warriors since Dec. 18. | Source: Godofredo A. Vásquez/Associated Press
The Warriors’ future assets
Butler’s injury puts everything on the table. The organization’s stated objective is still to give Curry the opportunity to play meaningful basketball in the spring. How the Warriors get there, though, is a mystery to be unpacked in the next couple weeks.
Perhaps the biggest question is whether the current situation makes the Warriors more willing to part with their future draft capital — their most valuable assets.
“Our picks always will and have been in play,” Dunleavy said. “You just, to give up our picks, it’s got to be meaningful to get something back. So for that reason there’s only so many players out there that probably warrant putting stuff like that on the table, but we’re looking at everything. Joe Lacob is our owner, so you’re always exploring all possibilities, willing to do any type of deal. And maybe stuff has changed a little bit with [Butler’s] injury, but I’m not sure how much that affects our aggressiveness.”
Golden State can trade up to three future first-round picks plus three swaps. The most tantalizing, of course, are the ones further out — when Curry is likely on a golf course somewhere.
There’s a price for everything, even those. Using them would only be worthwhile for a special player, one that would help the Warriors compete for playoff berths in those post-Curry, pick-less years. The same applies for taking on long-term money in the apron era; Golden State has practically no commitments past 2026-27.
Giannis Antetokounmpo would qualify. He might be the only potentially available player who would.
“If there’s a great player to be had, we’ve got everything in the war chest that we would be willing to use,” Dunleavy said.
A personal connection
Normally cool and collected, Dunleavy was a bit shaken up, even almost a full day after Butler’s injury.
Dunleavy played with Butler for the Bulls in the early 2010s and has a strong connection with the forward. He went out on a limb to acquire Butler from Miami last year even as Butler feuded with the Heat organization, causing consternation leaguewide. There wasn’t consensus within the Warriors organization that Butler would be a personality and on-court fit.
The trade proved Dunleavy right. Butler was everything the team could’ve hoped for — in the locker room and as Robin to Steph Curry’s Batman.
It’s not possible to positively spin an ACL tear, especially for a 36-year-old. Dunleavy is “crushed” for Butler.
“I hate it for him on a personal level, former teammate,” Dunleavy said. “I’ve been through some injuries and surgeries, but never an ACL, something this significant.”
A typical recovery timetable is somewhere between 10 months and a year, meaning Butler will almost certainly miss a portion of next season. But if Dunleavy is sincere in his intention to keep Butler instead of trading him, it’s because the organization is optimistic he can return to being the caliber of player he has been for the past year.
“I think he’s got a style of game that can play for a long time with his skill, his physicality, his mind for the game,” Dunleavy said. “So I guess my vision for him is him returning at some point between now and this time next year.”
