​The Golden State Warriors’ offseason has centered for the past couple of weeks on one question: will they be lucky enough to sign LeBron James as a free agent, ideally on a modest deal that would land a Hall of Fame star at a discount? That single inquiry has spawned a cluster of related questions, all of which have put the Warriors’ mindset regarding the tail end of Stephen Curry’s prime under close scrutiny. Among those tangential issues is the situation with star wing Jimmy Butler.
Butler is currently out as he rehabs from ACL surgery. The injury occurred in January, which sets a likely return window around Thanksgiving—roughly 10 months of recovery. More realistically, Butler should come back around Christmas or shortly after, meaning he’s expected to miss about half the season. Butler is on an expiring $57 million contract, and because the Warriors don’t possess other contracts of comparable heft or any combination that would credibly align with that amount, Butler stands as the Warriors’ strongest option to match a sizable salary in a potential trade to bring back a star. The path would require first-round picks, but such a package could net a top-tier player.
That’s the essence of Butler’s standing with the Warriors. The all-important question, however, is whether the team would actually pull the trigger on trading Butler while he’s sidelined rehabbing. Butler is a respected veteran, well regarded by the front office and in the locker room. The Warriors have reportedly told Butler they do not intend to trade him, and shipping him out after a knee injury would be an ugly move. If a deal involving Butler could land Anthony Davis, for instance, Butler would likely have to be part of the exchange. Such a trade might help secure LeBron James’s commitment to Golden State—James is a close friend of Davis—but it would also feel cold and opportunistic.
This is, of course, a possibility the Warriors have been said to resist—though it’s important to note that circumstances can always shift. ESPN insider Brian Windhorst noted this week that the Warriors are trying to get Butler back on the floor quickly, and that if they trade future first-round picks, those deals might not necessarily involve Butler. Windhorst wrote on ESPN.com: “Butler is promising to return strong from his injury, and the front office is still looking for ways to trade future first-round picks to improve the roster for Curry.”
That framework leaves the Warriors with limited tradable assets beyond Butler. The challenge with matching salaries persists, since after accounting for Curry’s and Butler’s deals, there isn’t a long list of other players with salaries that align neatly. Draymond Green is on a significant deal, but there’s no incentive to move him, so the next realistic tradable salary is Moses Moody’s $12.5 million, which could be paired with Brandin Podziemski’s $5.5 million to yield a roughly $18 million return. Such a package might enable the Warriors to fetch a player in the vicinity of that value, but there aren’t many players in that price range who would move the needle in a meaningful, championship-contending way.
In sum, Butler stands as the clearest vehicle for constructing a sizable trade haul, yet the Warriors face the tension between their stated intent not to move him while he rehabs and the practical realities that could push them toward a more aggressive move if the right opportunity emerges. The path to adding a high-caliber star via trade would rely on strategic combinations of picks and mid-tier veterans, with the practical constraint of salary-matching dictating what’s possible. As the season approaches and Butler’s rehabilitation progresses, the Warriors’ decisions will hinge on how the market evolves, Butler’s readiness to contribute upon his return, and whether a trade framework can convincingly balance immediate needs with the longer-term goals surrounding Curry’s era in Golden State.