The 2025 NBA trade deadline has since come and gone, with the Golden State Warriors making one lone acquisition, acquiring 35-year-old Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, and a protected first-round pick.

Golden State was linked to just about every all-star imaginable in the NBA over the final week leading up to the deadline. Names that circulated included LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul George, Zach Lavine, and Zion Williamson.

For a solid 24 hours, all reports indicated that a reunion with Durant in The Bay were legitimate, until Wednesday afternoon when it was reported by ESPN insider Shams Charania that “Durant has no desire to return to the Warriors.” Putting an immediate end to a rumored three-team deal that would’ve sent Durant to Golden State and Butler to Phoneix.

From that point, Golden State’s front office made the pivot to focusing on trying to acquire Butler. Though the Warriors were one of Butler’s initial four desired destinations, Butler’s unwillingness to sign an extension in the offseason was voiced publicly and halted talks between the teams.

“Man, Jimmy’s got to be really careful…because you could end up without a market,” Draymond Green said Wednesday via his podcast the ‘Draymond Green Show.’

Fast forward to Wednesday evening, the news of the trade broke causing immediate mixed emotions that have seemingly divided the fanbase in half on whether Butler will work out with the Dubs given his age, and tulmotious history throughout his various stops in the Association.

Minutes after the trade went down, Butler signed a two-year $121 million extension that keeps him in San Francisco through the 2026-27 NBA season, in line with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green’s contracts.

Though those concerns are valid, Jimmy Butler is what the Warriors need right now.

The Warriors have struggled mightily offensively since their infamous 12-3 start to the season, and though Wiggins had performed well as of late, his play since his 2022 all-star season is far too inconsistent for Golden State to rely on as a prominent second option along side Steph Curry.

Butler gives the Warriors a secondary scoring option, that has the ability to create his own shot, something Golden State has been desperate for since Jordan Poole’s departure ahead of last season.

Curry’s numbers have taken a dip this season, averaging just 22.4 points per game, in large part to teams game planning to ball deny and double team him constantly. With the implementation of Butler, not only will he take some of the load of Curry’s shoulders, it allows Curry to do what he does best, which is playing off the ball. Something we have not seen nearly as much this season.

“It’ll look different than what we are used to. He can play I’m sure a little bit of motion, but he’s a shot creator, a finisher,” Curry said.

Butler gives the Dubs added support on the defensive end to replace Wiggins, as he’s a five-time All-Defensive team selection, along with being a six-time all-star.

The Warriors failed to make any other deals at the deadline to bolster their frontcourt, after being tied in rumors with Chicago Bulls 34 year-old big man Nikola Vucevic for weeks. Golden State has three open roster spots and can still look to add in the buyout market.

Butler is not Durant, or even someone like Lavine at his age. But he’s someone, and it showed some sort of life from the front office that has struckout on star after star in the trade market.

The move gives Golden State someone that is proven winner who has the reputation of elevating his game come playoff time. It makes one of Curry’s possible final prime seasons more compelling, which is all the fanbase can really ask for, and has expected the team to do. Maximize the final years of the Curry era.