Picture this: Steph Curry lobs it to LeBron James for a dunk. The building explodes. That’s the dream Golden State is chasing this offseason — pairing LeBron with Anthony Davis in a trade while somehow keeping enough pieces around them to matter.
Kevin O’Connor from Yahoo! Sports reported the Warriors are eyeing Davis from Washington as a way to convince LeBron to leave the Lakers and join them. But there’s a massive complication in the middle of this plan: Jimmy Butler’s $56.8 million expiring contract and the torn ACL he’s rehabbing right now.
The Warriors have spent months telling everyone they want Butler around. According to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, Butler sat next to team owner Joe Lacob at the announcement of Golden State’s new partnership with IREN Limited. That’s not a guy they plan to ship out. At least that’s what they’d like everyone to think.
But here’s the math problem. Golden State can’t get Davis without matching salary. Butler’s expiring deal is basically the only piece that gets them there. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer from The Stein Line say the Warriors have privately assured Butler he won’t be moved. But private assurances don’t mean a trade can’t happen.
“He knows there are no guarantees that he won’t be dealt,” Stein and Fischer wrote. That line basically admits what everyone already suspects — you can’t make a Davis trade happen without including Butler’s contract. The Warriors know it. Butler knows it. The Wizards know it.
The ACL situation changes everything
Moving a star player who just tore his ACL is a bad look. Teams don’t love being the franchise that dumped a guy the second his value cratered from injury. Stein and Fischer went further, calling it “cruel” for Golden State to trade Butler after he got hurt playing for them. That’s not just a PR problem. That’s a reputation problem that could haunt the Warriors in future free agency conversations.
Behind the scenes, Golden State keeps hinting they’re reluctant to use Butler’s contract while he’s injured. But reluctance isn’t a no. It’s the kind of word that leaves a door cracked.
Meanwhile, Davis has said publicly he wants to stay in Washington. Wizards GM Will Dawkins keeps telling reporters the big man is central to their long-term plan. Of course, players say that all the time right before they get traded. But Washington’s track record suggests they’re not in a rush to move Davis unless the offer blows them away.
LeBron has a player option that can make him a free agent this summer. He and Davis won a title together in 2020 with the Lakers. Reuniting them in Golden State would change the entire NBA landscape. But the Warriors can’t get there without making a decision on Butler — and that decision has consequences they can’t undo.
Green already opted out of his player option to give the Warriors more financial flexibility. That’s a move that says they’re cooking something. The question is whether Butler’s ACL recovery becomes the ingredient that spoils the whole recipe.
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