SALT LAKE CITY — If the locker room mood after the Warriors’ 131-128 collapse to the Jazz was somber, imagine how dark it was before the game.
About an hour before tipoff, Steve Kerr summoned his entire team into the visitor’s locker room and kicked the media out. He reminded the team about the business of the NBA and provided them a chance to say goodbye to Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson and Lindy Waters III — all of whom got sent out in the pending trade that netted disgruntled Heat star Jimmy Butler.
“It was bitter,” Kevon Looney said postgame. “As a player, those guys, you’re with them every day. They become like your family. When teammates get traded right before a game when you’re trying to get ready for a game, it’s always tough. It’s always sad.”
The Warriors know how the league works. You have to give up something to get something. The cost of Butler arriving to pry open a contending window from now through 2027 cost Wiggins, veterans and a protected first-round pick (likely in this upcoming draft).
The departure of Wiggins in particular hit hard within the locker room walls. A hero in the 2022 title run, Wiggins reached his career peak as a Warrior. He made an All-Star team and went to war with Golden State, stretching the limits of his game and rising to the occasion in the NBA Finals.
Wiggins was one of Steve Kerr’s all-time favorite players to coach. He was beloved among teammates, a quiet, steady, family-oriented presence. An unselfish player willing to cede shot attempts and glory in Golden State’s system, embodied what culture of the late-stage Warriors dynasty.
“What he meant to our team and our franchise, to help us climb the mountaintop again back in 22, he changed a lot for us for the better,” Steph Curry said. “I hope his experience with us changed a lot for him as well. He’s got a lot of basketball left in him, obviously.”
Now, all the Warriors can do is hope he thrives in Miami every night except when the Heat play Golden State.
“You develop these relationships with guys, they give you everything and commit to the team,” said Kerr, shaken from both the loss and the circumstances. “They’ve got families. Wiggs just had a baby boy last week. Girls in school…Just a beautiful soul. Wonderful human being. We don’t hang that banner in 22 without him. Everything he brings every day, the laughter, the smile, the joy. Just a wonderful human being. I’m going to miss him.”
Kerr called Anderson the “ultimate pro.” Same with Schroder, traded twice this season now and will now have to relocate his family — moved into a house in the Bay last week — again.
The Warriors were warming up when Kerr broke the news to them, then suddenly they were saying emotional goodbyes. Even Curry, the 16-year veteran, never experienced something quite like it.
Kerr suggested that the league move the trade deadline to the All-Star break to avoid such situations. The Warriors eventually gained their composure against the Jazz, but lost it in a different manner while surrendering 20 points in the last three minutes of the game, blowing a double-digit lead.
“It definitely messed up a lot of guys’ routines,” Looney said. “Mess up the whole vibe of the game.”
The Warriors have had mostly quiet deadlines over the past decade. That’s what happens when you win four NBA championships and are perennially contending. But nights like Wednesday happen in the league around the trade deadline, with frenzied transactions upending families around the 28 NBA cities. It’s the business every NBA player signed up for.
And it’s the same business that could usher in a new era. Butler, who reportedly inked a two-year, $121 million extension upon his trade to Golden State, will likely join the team before the All-Star break.
A six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA player, Butler projects to be the type of No. 2 option the Warriors have been searching for to pair with Curry. He led Miami to two NBA Finals as an elite playoff performer.
The Warriors were able to acquire him without emptying their chest of future assets — draft or young players — because of the way he stormed out of Miami.
The Heat suspended Butler three times this season, including a final, indefinite suspension, for a continued pattern of conduct detrimental to the team, disregard of team rules and intentionally withholding service. He missed a team flight and walked out of multiple shootarounds.
“We know who Jimmy is,” Curry said. “Two Finals, he’s a winner. Understand there’s a lot of drama down there. Who really knows what the story is. We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy who’s ready to impact our team for the better.”
Curry and Butler texted at halftime of the Warriors’ loss and Golden State’s superstar said he’s excited to get to work with him. Curry didn’t get much of a chance to process the move because of its timing, but knows things will look different with Butler in the fold.
Butler isn’t much of an outside shooter, but his high-IQ passing, cutting and playmaking with the ball should fit well with the Warriors. He can play with or without the ball, and at his best is as feared as anyone in the league in a playoff series.
Butler does two things the Warriors sorely lack: finish at the rim and get to the foul line. Curry said he plans to watch a lot of Miami film to understand the sets he successfully ran and see how he can transition into the Warriors’ playbook.
The five-time all-league defender also typically plays heavy minutes. That should be helpful, as the Warriors are shifting from a depth team to one that will have to settle into an eight or nine-man rotation.
“I think the biggest thing is it just creates expectations, which I love,” Curry said. “I want to be in that kind of environment. Whether you get it done or not, that is meaningful basketball that we all love and thrive in. I think we’re all going to be up for the challenge.”
At .500, the Warriors have work to do to get to a true playoff series. They’re in 11th place after the Utah loss, three games back of the sixth seed.
With Butler, the Warriors will have a chance to make a run this year and the next two. Butler’s contract is aligned with that of Curry and Draymond Green, opening up a 2.5-year window with those three front and center.
“The plan was to try to position ourselves to be better than we were and have a legitimate chance to be relevant at the top of the West,” Curry said.
“We have a lot of work to do. It is a situation where we can hopefully close some of the gap down the stretch of this season, get into a playoff series, roll the dice and see what happens. But knowing next year you have a plan of what you’re trying to do and he’ll be in the locker room to do it. That is exciting to have a little bit of clarity, for sure.”