Immediately, though, Butler\u2019s injury will send shock waves through the league and has the potential to dramatically alter this year\u2019s trade deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How Jimmy Butler\u2019s injury changes Warriors\u2019 deadline plans<\/p>\n
Leading into Monday, Golden State, sitting a few games above Portland for eighth in the West, figured to be active at the deadline to some degree thanks to the Jonathan Kuminga situation finally boiling over. The fifth-year forward demanded a trade out of Golden State<\/a> the moment he became eligible on Jan. 15. It felt like a rocky relationship between player and team hitting its breaking point. Kuminga struggled to stay in coach Steve Kerr\u2019s rotation<\/a> over the years and went through a protracted contract standoff in the summer during which his efforts to get traded were fruitless. Then he began the new season as a starter, got yanked when he began to struggle, suffered an injury and wound up glued to the bench<\/a>, where he remained through Monday\u2019s game; Kuminga hadn\u2019t seen a single minute of action since Dec. 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the saga the reporting has been consistent that the Warriors were not going to trade him just because he was unhappy. They desired something of value in return for their former lottery pick. But the last few months of discontent culminating in Kuminga\u2019s first formal trade request seemed like it might have finally broken the dam. ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania reported<\/a> \u201cessentially every major figure on the ground level of the operation,\u201d like Kuminga, Kerr, and the other Warriors veterans, \u201cagree that the best resolution is to trade Kuminga prior to the deadline.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Thus, all signs pointed to a Kuminga trade as an inevitability rather than a possibility and Golden State figured to be active trying to find a package general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. deemed worthy of Kuminga\u2019s value. The team invested a high pick in Kuminga, selecting him seventh in the 2020 draft, but throughout his career thus far the 23-year-old forward\u2019s potential has been outsized compared to his production. Kuminga averaged only 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game when he was in Kerr\u2019s rotation earlier this season, and his defensive effort was inconsistent at best. That\u2019s not the profile of an enviable trade piece that could result in a positive return. But the Warriors, and perhaps other teams, believe Kuminga\u2019s potential as an athletic two-way wing makes him more valuable than the raw numbers suggest. Trying to take a huge swing with his $22.5 million salary to land a star didn\u2019t appear terribly likely but trading him to a team like the Kings or the Mavericks in exchange for a rotation player certainly seemed on the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n McKeone: Three Realistic Jonathan Kuminga Landing Spots After Warriors Trade Demand<\/a><\/p>\n Now the Warriors\u2019 short- and long-term outlooks have completely changed<\/a>. There is suddenly a gaping hole in the rotation at forward where Butler played over 30 minutes per game. That\u2019s a big problem considering the Warriors are under pressure to seriously contend this season with Steph Curry still proving capable of winning games and putting up big numbers. The sort of roster weakness the team now has sans Butler must be addressed very quickly if Golden State is to climb out of the play-in tournament. It would be unwise to rely on Draymond Green and Al Horford for that purpose given the mileage both longtime vets have accumulated. Quinten Post is a stretch five who can masquerade as a four for short stretches but obviously holds a much different skill set than Butler.\u00a0<\/p>\n Which leaves the Warriors with two realistic options: Play Kuminga again or find an alternative on the trade market. With a few weeks to go before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, they started with the Kuminga path. The forward came off the bench on Tuesday night and played 21 minutes, scoring 20 points. The Warriors lost 145\u2013127, but Kuminga was a +3 in his minutes on the court. If that\u2019s the version of Kuminga Golden State would get for the rest of the season, that would thrill the franchise and perhaps set the table for an offseason trade that would garner the return Dunleavy has been holding out for.\u00a0<\/p>\n But given how the organizational relationship with Kuminga has deteriorated, that ideal outcome seems more like a pipe dream. And even in such a dream world where Kuminga suddenly revives his Warriors career the team doesn\u2019t have enough firepower to beat the real monsters of the conference like the Thunder or Nuggets. Which means the Warriors could wind up big players at the deadline even with Kuminga back in the rotation for the time being.\u00a0<\/p>\n What GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. said about Warriors\u2019 deadline approach Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. discussed the impact of Jimmy Butler\u2019s injury as well as Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s trade demand this week. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\n After the Butler injury, Sports Illustrated\u2019s Chris Mannix reported a rival team exec told him \u201ceverything should be on the table\u201d<\/a> for the Warriors. A few hours later, Dunleavy got in front of assembled media<\/a> to discuss how his front office will approach the coming months with Butler sidelined. His comments were illuminating.\u00a0<\/p>\n Most notably Dunleavy said he does not \u201cenvision\u201d flipping Butler and his $54 million salary after he got hurt. It is a careful choice of words typical from an NBA GM that doesn\u2019t rule out a Butler move completely, but it\u2019s safe to assume Golden State does not view getting out from his contract as a priority. Nor does the team feel he\u2019ll be a necessary aspect of any prospective trade they can currently foresee on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Which leads into Dunleavy\u2019s telling view on draft picks. Reports have suggested Golden State has long been loath to put any draft picks from years down the line on the table for trades. It is an understandable view in a vacuum; the franchise\u2019s infamous \u201ctwo timeline\u201d approach has failed spectacularly and there will likely be quite a few losses waiting after Curry retires. But for that same reason those are valuable resources that can be used to upgrade the roster right now. In his news conference, Dunleavy said those picks \u201calways will and have been in play,\u201d and if there\u2019s a great player available they’ll be willing to use \u201ceverything in the war chest.\u201d But it all came with a key caveat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re talking about trading draft picks that will be going out when Steph isn\u2019t here, it\u2019s going to have to be a player that we think we\u2019ll be getting back that is going to be here when those picks are going out,\u201d the GM said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Warriors have control over nearly all of their future draft picks with the exception of 2030, which is a top-20 protected pick owed to the Wizards. Beginning with the 2026 draft they can mix and match the equivalent of at least three first-round picks to include in a trade this year. But Dunleavy indicates the franchise is not willing to send out a pick to convey six years down the line for a player who won\u2019t be in a Golden State uniform for that long\u2014which narrows the pool of possible targets considerably.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/01kfh9xg36x2qtj0qreb.jpg\" "\\"Golden")
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