Maybe this is fate. The story of an unlikely bond worthy of some script written in the cosmos — or a charmingly deep rom-com starring Gabrielle Union — where desperation produces a happy ending. When destiny, to circumvent human stubbornness, intervenes to remove all other options. Highlighting the two meant for each other.
Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors. Chef Curry and Big Face Coffee. A match made in thirst. An unlikely pairing of mega entities too obstinate to accept a league trying to relegate them to yesteryear.
If any three players are bullheaded enough to delay their demise, it’s Curry, Butler and Draymond Green. Each has cauterized their legacy with defiance of the odds, of their limitations, of time itself. In the most Pollyanish view of their union, it tracks that together they’d have enough skill and resilience to claw their way back to relevance.
If this is a last stand, a final push from future Hall of Famers, the Warriors can do worse than a locked-in Jimmy Buckets, whose will is the stuff of legend. Facing them in the playoffs would be tough to deal with.
But ideal scarcely happens, especially for players well into their 30s. It happened for the Warriors in 2022. But this is Season Three of ideal, chiding Golden State for being greedy.
This could very well not work. The old Butler may have fully given over old Butler — which with old Curry and old Draymond might not produce new magic. The Warriors gave up their best perimeter defender in Andrew Wiggins in exchange for a significantly worse 3-point shooter in Wednesday’s trade. They added a player who lives in the midrange and at the free-throw line, something the Warriors lack. A player who can go get his own shot. But they added someone who has spent the last decade as the alpha male and now has to acclimate to a world centered on Curry.
But the Warriors had to do something. Curry is dying out there. Battling nagging injuries, kitchen-sink defenses and his own basketball mortality. And the knowledge his excellence is the Warriors’ only recipe for victory on a team clinging to .500. He needed somebody to help carry the load of an offense that ranks No. 19.
This could very well not work. Butler has played in 67 percent of the Heat’s games since he became an iconic figure by carrying Miami to the Finals in the bubble. He did it again in 2023 but missed last year’s playoffs with injury. If the Warriors sacrificed one of their favorites in Wiggins, only for a Butler injury to shelve him at the wrong time, it would be especially demoralizing.
Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler aren’t ready to put the glory days behind them. Now they’ll join forces to try to keep them going. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Such is why the Warriors were not keen on Butler. He was too expensive, too risky and potentially too disruptive. The perfect version of Butler is seductive, no doubt. But the imperfect one prompted serious hesitation.
But the Warriors had to do something. They couldn’t continue to hang onto their dynastic pillars while also waiting for young players to blossom into stars. They couldn’t keep blaming circumstance on the lacking upgrades. They couldn’t just watch the league’s biggest names get traded across the league and have another press conference explaining their empty hands. The risks, in that sense, don’t seem so great when perennial mediocrity is overwhelming the franchise. As much as Wiggins, and anyone else on this roster, is beloved, they’ve all been next to one of the best players in the NBA and still haven’t been able to keep the Warriors from the clutches of the play-in tournament. May as well see if Butler can. If it doesn’t work, it isn’t as if they squandered a winner.
Butler, according to recent reports, said he did not want to sign a contract extension with the Warriors — the kind of detail revealed to prevent a team from executing the trade. The Warriors wouldn’t want to give up assets for a short-term rental. So it seemed Butler was not interested.
But both the Warriors and Butler needed each other.
Golden State still needed a star to elevate its capacity. Butler still pined for a contract extension. His efforts to get himself to Phoenix, where a big payday awaited, couldn’t materialize.
NBA teams weren’t lining up to throw money at Butler — not with his age, injury history and propensity to end tenures with turmoil. Nor were teams eager to trade one of their superstars to Golden State. The Warriors struck out on Paul George and Lauri Markkanen this summer, then were spurned by the Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant this week.
So, as the trade deadline drew near, both Butler and the Warriors looked around at their options and saw they were the only lonely ones in the club.
A shoulder shrug. A shot. A hook-up.
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Butler’s new $121 million extension aligns his contract with Curry’s. Green has one extra year beyond theirs. And coach Steve Kerr has just next season on his deal. So the urgency is built into their arrangement. A ticking clock. A chance to silence critics.
Perhaps this level of desperation works wonders for both. It was becoming increasingly clear the Warriors weren’t going to get lucky. Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t walking through that door. And it was evident Butler’s reputation around the league doesn’t match the A1 clout he believes he deserves.
So maybe their mutual frustrations fuse into something powerful. Maybe the intensity of Butler changes the vibe in the Warriors’ locker room, where defeat consumes space too freely, and a collection of reserved personalities produces passivity. Maybe playing next to Curry, in a system that could play up his off-ball skills, in a culture that encourages individuality, with a fan base that will revere him if he produces, is exactly what Butler needs to extend his prime.
Maybe the same desperation that brought them together remains long enough to propel something impressive out of them. A playoff run. A season to build on. A reclamation of their former glory.
“He’s been to two Finals,” Curry said. “He’s a winner. I understand there’s a lot of drama down there. Who really knows what the story is? We expect to have a motivated, committed Jimmy that’s ready to impact our team for the better. Gotta work out the kinks of what it looks like. I’m excited to get to work and kind of feed off the energy of something new and somebody that’s obviously had experience at the highest of levels. Has a lot to prove. New situation. We’re gonna try to help each other do that.”
Or, maybe that’s just the desperation talking.
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
