The Warriors had been delighted by the play of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, which is a significant factor in why the franchise has taken the news of Butler’s season-ending torn ACL so hard, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
As Stein writes, Curry declined to speak to the media after Tuesday’s loss to Toronto because he was still processing the ramifications of the injury, and head coach Steve Kerr admitted the superstar guard was “crushed” by the news following Thursday’s defeat to the Mavs in Dallas.
“It’s obviously a tough situation. First and foremost, you think about [Butler] and his recovery and his spirits, just trying to be there for him as a friend and teammate,” Curry said after Thursday’s game. “But basketball-wise, we have to make the necessary adjustments to try to keep a semblance of our identity that we were forming with him as a part of that push.
“These last two games have been difficult in making that adjustment, but I think emotionally we have to try and move on as fast as possible to not let things spiral the wrong direction. … It’s no secret this is difficult for everybody, trying to accept the reality of what’s going on.”
Golden State’s front office has given Butler “strong assurances” that the team wants him back next season as soon as he has recovered from the major knee injury, according to Stein, who reiterates that trading the 36-year-old forward is not currently part of the Warriors’ plans.
Here are a few more notes and rumors on the Warriors:
- As for what moves the Warriors will look to make ahead of the February 5 deadline, trying to find a workable Jonathan Kuminga trade is a high priority, sources tell Stein, but the team also continues to signal it’s OK with keeping him for the rest of the season if necessary in an attempt to rebuild his market value ahead of the offseason. Before Kuminga injured his ankle and knee in Thursday’s game, Stein hears the Warriors planned to increase his minutes in the lead-up to the deadline. The 23-year-old forward will miss Saturday’s game in Minnesota due to left knee soreness, tweets ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
- According to Stein, the Warriors are interested in a reunion with Andrew Wiggins and will explore the possibility of sending Kuminga to Miami in exchange for the former No. 1 overall pick. It’s worth noting that Wiggins ($28.2MM) makes more money than Kuminga ($22.5MM) and the Warriors are right up against their second-apron hard cap, so they’d have to add more salary to the deal to make it a legal framework.
- The Warriors would be “negligent” not to make a pre-deadline deal to give Curry more help, contends Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
- On his podcast (YouTube link), forward/center Draymond Green offered a reserved take on GM Mike Dunleavy Jr.‘s eyebrow-raising comments about Kuminga’s trade demand, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area relays.
- While Curry is frustrated and disappointed by Butler’s injury, he says his belief in his ability to lead the team to victories hasn’t been shaken, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic. “As long as I’m out there, I’m always confident we can win,” Curry said. “It’s how I play. It’s how we want to play, and until proven otherwise, you have to carry that mentality.”
Curry is in shock. Early stages of mourning over the warriors championship aspirations. Poor guy. Pay your respects to warriors season. RIP Golden State 25/26
Did the season end today?
No? Then your conclusions are premature.
We live in the age of absolutism.
Absolutely guarantee the warriors won’t win the championship. How about that?
OK, fair enough. That’s reasonable and the odds are in your favor by a wide margin.
But above you wrote to pay your respects now. That’s not valid. A lot can happen and in fact has not happened yet.
Glass half empty and glass half full. You picked one and I picked one. All good.
The trade deadline will ensure your take will age like milk.
Remember when Latrell Sprewell played for the Warriors!? Good times.
I remember him saying a big contract he couldn’t live on and turned it down to only going bankrupt because he was a fool with his money.
arc, a fool and his money are soon.., partying !!!
Gary: A most excellent play on words which could be extended by commentary on the results.
That 04 wolves team was good. Sam Cassell and the big ticket too!
Christmas tree, Those were horrible times. I think the Warriors were in the middle of a 30 year dumpster fire.
Nobody knows what the warriors will do. Every name is attached to them making a trade for somebody. What we do know is warriors do not want to trade draft picks. I just don’t see a trade makes them more than a play in team. Teams are double teaming Curry anytime he is on the court so they will not beat somebody in a 7 game series. When warriors traded for Butler he was not even mentioned by MDJ trading for him. Kuminga probably gets traded but other than that its all a guess.
Well said Arc.
arc, my point still stands from last month.
If the Warriors are 10 games under .500 they are sellers. The whole lot of them.
If the Warriors are around .500 or better, they go for it.
They do their best to bring in a 4 man of consequence and a wing who can get it done in the playoffs. Maybe a guard if they can’t find a wing because every team wants a wing.
This still applies today, Jimmy Butler or not.
If they are under .500 they should only trade for young players or draft picks.
arc, also there is no “probably JK gets traded.”
JK will absolutely get traded by the deadline this year 100% guaranteed, bet the farm.
Even Jimmy going down and Kerr plugging him into major minutes did not change his mind on wanting out and wanting out now.
Doesn’t really matter what he wants. He signed the contract.
Most likely he gets traded unless his knee injury is real bad.
His knee injury is nothing. That’s why he’s holding off on the MRI.
He sat because he wants to sit. Probably tweaked his ankle and he may have tweaked his knee, but he is done.
“trade me now.”
Delusional
👎
Steph to the knicks in the off season, lols.
Not as far-fetched as it sounds
Knicks don’t have the assets to make it work.
Actually it is. GSW would never.
Sarcasm man.
No.., NBA is OK…, It’s not far fetched. If Steph wants to be traded, they would do it and they would do it to fit his timeline.
You’re just an antagonist with no basis in any truth or reliable source of information.
In fact, you have no idea what Golden State would do or would not do.
The next time you want to write something or give your opinion, just think the opposite and then write that and it would be closer to being fact.
Then go ahead and look what I’ve written, copy and paste it, and send it to all your friends and tell them it’s gospel truth. You’ll be further ahead by doing so.
Steph won’t ask to be traded. GSW won’t trade their franchise player and current top 5 in the league superstar.
According to you, I’m “just an antagonist with no basis in any truth or reliable source of information”? 1st, he’s got young kids and wouldn’t want to move. Also:
“I mean, I can clearly say I want to be a Warrior for life. It’s always been my goal”.
-Steph
LOL !
Ok sounds good. Let’s see how all this unfolds.
“His knee injury is nothing. That’s why he’s holding off on the MRI.
He sat because he wants to sit. ”
Did you see that the MRI last week showed a bone bruise in his knee?
NBA is OK. I’m sure there’s something with his knee but if you think he’s playing again for the Warriors, I’m going to disagree with you.
Manipulation of injury reports, and sitting out games is prevalent in professional sports. Just saying.
His playing or not will depend 100% on if the Warriors get a trade offer they think helps the team by the deadline. If not, they’ll play him to increase his market.
Time will tell.
1) playing him will not increase his market. It will reduce the amount of teams interested because they will see that he sucks. The selling point on JK is future potential.
2) they will settle for whatever they can get for JK by the deadline. Write it down. You keep repeating the fallacy of holding him past the deadline. That is ridiculous to anyone paying attention. Not picking on you specifically.
It’s weird to see so many people posting Steph trade scenarios, since the only way that would ever happen is if Steph requests a trade.
He will stay with the Warriors, he’d never leave to ring chase at this point.
NBA is OK.., Right here you are contradicting yourself lol !!
So if Steph requests a trade then it’s possible? But you just wrote the dubs would “never.”
“If’s” are merely meaningless speculation.
Hoops Rumors loves some Warriors news. High traffic content! How many days til the deadline?
Lakers too. How many about Lakers when not much needs to be said.
The Lakers, Warriors, Knicks get the most Rumors comments. There is, more or less, a second tier of interest (Thunder, Bulls, but very good teams (Toronto?) just won’t get the commentary, and if a team is simply intriguing for some unexpected reason (Phoenix, Cleveland, Portland, Philadelphia) the propensity to discuss the more glamorous teams will prevail. Imagine this Kuminga drama if he played foe Orlando … crickets
It’s amusing really, aging maybe play in team with no legitimate title shot .
Jackson, That’s just wrong.
Any playoff team is in it until they’re not.
Look at the Pacers last year. Underdogs every single round and pushed it to seven games in the finals.
Gary look at that pacer roster and compare.
I’m glass half full and since it’s still January, nothing‘s been decided.
In Fact we still have the trade deadline, so I’m not looking at the Warriors roster today. Check back in a few weeks.
Wiggins reunion only as a release candidate….
It’s not just Butler’s injury but even Kuminga news of playing again must have been an emotional roller coaster for the young players on the team. It seemed everybody had turned the page with theofficial trade request news. Their roles changing and so much uncertainty.
Getting Wiggins back sounds good! I wish there was a way they could acquire Daniel Gafford from the Mavs. They so need rebounding and rim protection!
Not really. GSW needs a legit defensive big man who can start, not Wiggins.
They could use both. The warriors are not going to give anything up for a big. Funny how much the warriors value familiarity. Also, Wiggins has been pretty dang good for Miami this season, so he is gonna cost. I keep saying Norm Powell should be the guy they target. But really they should just focus on next year. Losing Jimmy Butler was effectively the end of them competing for this season.
But really is this team a playoff contender? Is it worth giving up draft picks to be a first round exit? Or even make it out of the first round? I don’t think so. They should be figuring it out for next year – Steph’s last year under contract.
Warriors get. Wiggins, Powell and Nikola Vučević
Chicago get. Jimmy Butler and Keshad Johnson
Heat get. Kuminga, Heild, Zach Collins, 1sts from GS and 2nds from Chicago
Wiggins could help the Warriors out. Anyone could find a spot for a guy that’s shooting .398 from deep and playing solid defense. It’s just a matter of who’d they send out with Kuminga and would he be enough to get past OKC. Guess it could be like 2022 and they could hope enough guys on other teams get hurt to win by attrition.
Or, he could be like 2023-25 Wiggins, and not really be impactful.
Giannis whatever it takes
Giannis to dubs is an outright fantasy. What pieces do the warriors have compared to the other suitors?
Nurkic, Norm Powell and a mid-good three and D guy (Wiggins or someone younger) would really help here.
Javonte Green type player. Dubs used to specialize on veteran “finds”.
Pat Will is the type of player that could be worth a gamble. I don’t think there might need to send much value to get him, as his trade value is negative at this point, with a nad contract. He’s never developed and seems to be taking a nap for many years, as he is stuck and now he is playing less and less. But maybe a change of scenery could shake him up. He has the tools needed to be an important piece for the Warriors: size, athleticism and versatility. Could be a high-reward gamble by the Warriors. The bad thing is his contract that, with his current production, looks awful. But I think he still has potential to make a leap and be an important contributor for a team like the Warriors.