The Warriors’ pursuit of a star player is no secret and trade season is fast approaching.
In the offseason, they tried to augment their roster by trading for Lauri Markkanen or Paul George — or both — but neither deal materialized.
Attention turns to the Feb. 6 trade deadline, when a handful of elite players could become available.
One championship-caliber player who could change teams is Heat star Jimmy Butler. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Miami is open to listening to offers for the wing and “making a deal if the proposal is right.” Butler and the Heat failed to come agree on a contract extension this past summer, giving him the opportunity to hit free agency at the end of the season.
Butler would prefer to play for a win-now contender, per ESPN, and his agent indicated the Mavericks, Rockets and Warriors as suitable options.
It’s worth noting that Butler wouldn’t have the autonomy to choose his destination in the case of a trade. He’s expected to opt out of his contract this summer to become a free agent instead of picking up his $52 million player option for 2025-26.
One of the best playoff performers in the league, Butler is averaging 19 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game on a career-best 55.7% shooting.
A three-for-one trade would make sense for the Warriors, who have depth to consolidate. But acquiring a player on a big salary like Butler could be difficult.
The Warriors are hard-capped at the first apron and can’t take on more incoming salary than they send out. Butler makes $48.8 million this year, meaning Golden State would have to stack several salaries to make the money work.
De’Anthony Melton, on a $12.8 million one-year deal and out for the season, becomes eligible to be traded on Dec. 15.
The salaries of Melton, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney add up to more than $47 million, but Wiggins is having a strong season and is paramount to what Golden State wants to do defensively. He’s also over five years younger than Butler and typically more durable.
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The Warriors also have three future first-round picks to dangle in trade offers.
Golden State’s best trade chip, however, is Jonathan Kuminga. Set to hit restricted free agency this summer, Kuminga has the highest upside on the roster and is expected to start at power forward for Draymond Green in the near future.
Kuminga recently matched his career-high with 33 points in a win over Houston and then helped the Warriors to a tight win against Minnesota with impressive two-way play.
The Warriors’ young stars — Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski — have heard rumblings of Golden State wanting to acquire another star. For Podziemski, it could be a factor in his rough stretch to the season in which his unwavering confidence from his rookie season has been shaken.
Not all upgrades have to be star trades, and not all trades would have to include Kuminga or Podziemski. ESPN also reported that the Warriors have expressed interest in Brooklyn’s Dennis Schroder, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith. Each would fit for different reasons, and Schroder in particular has had a bounce-back season.