Shams: Butler to GSW

[SA37]

Any word on the 1st round pick? Is it 2025? I missed it. Protections?

top-10 protected in 2025, top-10 protected in 2026 and unprotected in 2027. The pick will likely convey this year, though.

[SA37]

It will be fun to see all the people who insisted Wiggins was terrible suddenly claim he’s a great player now that he’s no longer a Warrior.

The Warriors took a huge gamble here, but they had to do something. They couldn’t just let Steph end his career on mediocre teams. If it all blows up, it’s better to burn out than fade away.

Either Draymond and Jimmy will fight, or they’ll become best friends. It’s hard to tell just yet. They both tend to get mad at players who don’t give 100% to win, so maybe they’ll bond over that.

The true irony is that the team that started this whole three point shooting frenzy in the NBA now needs more spacing. If it’s really a five team trade, maybe there’s a shooter going to the Warriors, or maybe they can strike a late deal for someone like Vucevic.

I don't think Milwaukee would move him, but Brook Lopez would be a great get. Myles Turner would also be a great get, but may be beyond what Golden St can accept back in salary.

[Kalamazoo317]

What's funnier from a historical perspective? Butler and Draymond on the same team, or Wiggins and Love on the same team?

[R-DAWG]

What's funnier from a historical perspective? Butler and Draymond on the same team, or Wiggins and Love on the same team?

Golden State has signaled their preference is to give Curry another shot while he’s still elite.

I’m not sure what it means for Draymond, but it doesn’t make much sense to have all 3 of Draymond/Kuminga/Butler on the roster making big money.

I think you have to take the best offer on the table for Daymond or Kuminga. Remember, the window here is 1-3 years.

[DetroitDon15]

Oh yay. Pistons taking on more detritus.

Not immediately clear why…

Because TJ straight out lied in that presser saying that he wasn’t selling cap space. It’s exactly what he did. He couldn’t extract a first for Martin but the Sixers had to give one to move RJ. I get they got for picks in round two but it just shows the lack of direction by TJ.

[gom]

$121 million over the next two years heading into his age 36 season is brutal for GS. I chalk that up as a big L

That's crazy. Butler is going to outperform that contract... just not in the regular season. I'm excited about the Warriors.

[Snakebites]

Oh yay. Pistons taking on more detritus.

Not immediately clear why…

Because TJ straight out lied in that presser saying that he wasn’t selling cap space. It’s exactly what he did. He couldn’t extract a first for Martin but the Sixers had to give one to move RJ. I get they got for picks in round two but it just shows the lack of direction by TJ.

It's TL.

In fairness we haven't actually used cap space yet. All of the trades so far fit into our room exception. We can in theory still make a trade that uses nearly all of our 14 million dollars in cap space, then make those other deals fit into our room exception after making those official.

Still about 1.5 hours premmature for this type of criticism.

[DonaldSanders]

I like the trade for a few reasons, but it's certainly far from perfect.

Plusses:
- The Warriors addressed their #1 need: offense. It's been absolutely awful lately, the Warriors have an aging Steph who has clearly lost some quickness, but still attracts doubles -- but nobody who consistently converts his gravity.
- There is a clear timeline path now -- Draymond, Steph, Jimmy, and Steve are now aligned for 2.5 seasons. After that the rebuild comes.
- High end talent needed -- even when the Warriors were doing well earlier in the season, it was clear a consolidation trade was needed at some point.
- Moving on from misses - Dennis was awful as a Warrior, and never fit. I liked when we got him but it just didn't work. Kyle Anderson I was not a fan of getting, and I'm happy to move off of his contract.
- The Warriors did not give up the future to get a star -- they got one at a discount, and they gave Steph a shot (however tiny) before his time is up.

Negatives:
- If the Warriors wanted any serious shot at contending, they had to move Draymond instead of Wiggins. Wiggins would be the perfect guy to slot next to Butler. Draymond has really fallen off this year and mucks up lineups with his offensive issues. Now, I get that the Heat also know this, so you'd really have had to really sweeten the pot somehow -- but if you actually wanted to contend, it was probably worth it.
- Big salary for Jimmy, you only do this if Lacob is willing to eat a lot of luxury tax, which he has been willing to do in the past but it's pretty eye-popping, especially that last year where everyone will be really old. That year looks like it is going to be rough overall for the Warrior team.
- Bad fit with Kuminga -- you really aren't going to be able to play Jimmy, JK, and Dray at the same time much and it looks like the Warriors want to extend JK, so I don't know what we are doing there. That's part of why moving Dray was the best move.


So overall I think the Warriors are definitely better, Wiggins is a great #3 type guy but the Warriors really needed to create a 1A/1B situation with Steph getting older, which they did do. I think we'll get 1 or 2 exciting playoff runs that come up short, but it'll be more fun then the dumpster fire we have watched this past 2 seasons. I'm glad we didn't mortgage the future for Lauri and got someone at a reasonable price.

[Laimbeer]

Miami jammed up their cap space for 2026-27, unless Wiggins opts out.

[jayjaysee]

Miami jammed up their cap space for 2026-27, unless Wiggins opts out.

Fox and Luka are in new happy homes.

Still some talent, but 2026 is a lot less exciting..

[BBallFreak]

Miami jammed up their cap space for 2026-27, unless Wiggins opts out.

I'm sure we could flip him for an expiring next year...

[Godaddycurse]

Miami jammed up their cap space for 2026-27, unless Wiggins opts out.

I'm sure we could flip him for an expiring next year...

Depends which wiggins shows up rest of season..