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SAN FRANCISCO – The NBA trade deadline is precisely two weeks away, and those huddling in the Warriors’ front office would be negligent if Feb. 5 passes without giving Stephen Curry some capable assistance.
Golden State lost its second-tier contender status Monday night, when Jimmy Butler III was lost for the season. Now it’s time to make a sincere effort to at least approach that level. To compete against teams that seem to abuse the Warriors.
Shortly after the Warriors closed their the longest homestand with a tip-to-buzzer loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, coach Steve Kerr expressed satisfaction with the team’s progress, winning six of eight games at Chase Center.
“Great homestand,” Kerr said afterward. “Toronto was amazing tonight, 21-for-34 from 3; they couldn’t miss. They had a great plan. They came in and took it to us early and we were obviously trying to swim upstream the entire game. It happens. We’ve been the team making all the threes the last few games, and we were probably due for one like this, where our opponent made them all.
“But we move on. Great homestand. But now we got to go out on the road and win some games.”
Winning on the road, however, will be appreciably harder to do without Butler, who sustained a torn right ACL injury. Considering how soundly Golden State was defeated by Toronto, winning on any court with this roster would be appreciably harder over the 37 games remaining on the schedule, with or without Butler.
The Raptors exposed the Warriors’ most visible weakness, just as the Atlanta Hawks had done while winning at Chase nine days earlier. In an NBA where length and athleticism matters, Golden State’s roster – as assembled by the front office led by CEO Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy – is operating at a conspicuous deficit. The Warriors frequently are slower and relatively miniature when compared to their opponent.
A 6-2 homestand might indicate progress, but the team’s architects can’t be blind to the length/athleticism deficit. It’s apparent in most games, including some in which the Warriors found a way to win – mostly because of the brilliance of Curry and Butler.
“I can’t think of anybody at that age playing better,” Kerr said, responding to Curry, 37, being named an NBA All-Star Game starter for the 11th time. “I know Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] played well late in his career, obviously, LeBron [James], but I just can’t imagine anybody playing at a higher level at this age than Steph. He’s been amazing all year, and I’m glad he’s being rewarded.”
Without Butler, the Warriors are primed to struggle even more than they have while compiling a 25-20 record. With De’Anthony Melton and Al Horford on the roster, the most realistic outlook is that they can be a slightly better version of the pre-Butler Warriors, who were 25-26 before Jimmy was acquired.
The Warriors entered the 2025-26 NBA season hugging the unforgiving second apron, spending to win now. While Curry still is elite. With Butler around from opening night. Dunleavy anticipated a boost from Melton and Horford, as well as among the under-25 players. They signed Jonathan Kuminga to a contract designed for a trade that could provide a midseason upgrade. Kerr, in the final season of his contract, was embracing his lame-duck status.
Though no one said it out loud, this team was designed to provide the best player in franchise history with at least a semirealistic opportunity to make one more valiant run at a fifth NBA championship.
During the 80 games from Butler’s arrival through his last appearance on Monday, the Warriors were 53-27. That’s the equivalent to a second-tier contender. They were perhaps one impact trade – with Kuminga and future No. 1 draft picks as chips – away from joining the top tier.
Butler’s injury puts those preseason plans in peril. Dunleavy was fishing for trades before Jimmy went down, and he will continue fishing now that he is out.
“There’s a lot of dialogue going on around the league,” Dunleavy said Tuesday. “We talk to all these teams, everybody’s talking to each other, feeling each other out. We really haven’t seen any trades yet, which usually, two weeks away, you’ll see one or two. But I think there’s been some good discussions and stuff will start to heat up here the next couple weeks as we know. So we’ll see.
“But for us, this injury is better now than two weeks from now or three weeks from now. It gives us a little bit of opportunity to assess and see if there’s something we can do to help us out.”
For those longing for the Warriors to add Anthony Davis, surely you know the overt risk. For those dreaming of Giannis Antetokounmpo coming to Golden State, it’s OK to fantasize. For those peeping at Jaren Jackson Jr., he’d be quite the upgrade.
For those hoping the Warriors can find any lengthy paint presence with the ability to provide a bounce that would allow them to compete at the league’s highest level, know that Lacob and Dunleavy want the same.
If they fail to achieve it, they will face the wrath of a mob roaring much louder than Steph.