It’s one of the difficult decisions the Golden State Warriors could be looking at this offseason, if they’re to truly take the step forward some say they’re looking to make. If they want to be able to match salaries in a superstar trade–for Kawhi Leonard, for example–they would almost certainly need to use the salary of Jimmy Butler to make the math work.
The Warriors have draft capital available–they can trade three first-round picks–but they do not have much by way of tradeable salary. Draymond Green can be part of a package, at $27 million (if he opts into his deal), but the Warriors are thin on assets to put with him. They could trade Brandin Podziemski, the injured Moses Moody or Gui Santos, but any configuration of that package is not going to bring back a first-rate star.
But packaging Butler’s expiring contract with picks could be the Warriors’ clearest path to a trade for a star.
Jimmy Butler Does Not Want Warriors to Trade Him
Except Butler has no desire to be traded and, according to those around the league, the Warriors have given no indication they’d include his deal in packages for big-time players. In fact, the notion of the Warriors hunting for a star is overrated–they were not in on a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo after having inquired about him in February, and they are not involved as of yet in a Kawhi Leonard deal.
That’s fine by Butler. In an update with the media on the rehab work he has done since he tore his ACL in January, Butler said he does not want to be anywhere but in Golden State. He was definitive in saying he does not want to be traded, in fact.
Warriors Organization ‘Is the Best’
Speaking at Warriors event to announce a new jersey patch on Thursday, Butler made clear his feelings on staying put. No NBA organization, he said, tops the Warriors. .
Said Butler: “It legitimately is the best. You don’t realize it until you’ve been in other places, and I’m not talking down on anybody that are quite lesser than. You’re talking about the way that y’all run everything, the people that you have around, obviously the guys that get to rep the uniform.
“They just do everything the right way, the winning way, and it definitely shows in everything that we do here. I’m grateful to be a part of it now, and when I say I don’t want to be anywhere else, this is it.”
Jimmy Butler Rehab ‘Mentally Frustrating’
As for his rehab, Butler said he has been doing that mostly around the team, and he is hopeful that he won’t miss too much time with the Warriors. He is not expect to return until 2027, but it is possible he could be back on the floor around Thanksgiving at the earliest.
Said Butler: “I am glad to be here in the Bay Area. This rehab’s tough, I am not even going to lie. You are doing so much work, knowing you got so much more work to do to get back to where you want to be. It’s a process, it is a grind, which is nothing new but at the same time, it’s very new. But I just look forward to getting back to the court.
“Not harder than I thought. Tedious? Yes. Mentally frustrating? Very much so. Definitely not harder than I thought. It’s just, life is different right now. There are things I used to be able to that I can’t do right now.”
Warriors’ Jimmy Butler Breaks Silence on Trade Out of Bay Area