Jimmy Butler recently went down with a severe anterior cruciate ligament injury a week ago.
This completely changed the course of the Warriors. Not just the impending playoff berth that appears to be the final straw for superstar Stephen Curry, but also next season.
As many NBA fans know, this type of injury doesn’t just take a summer of rehab, especially thanks to ACL injuries to Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton, Dejounte Murray, and Jayson Tatum last season. They often extend to much of the following NBA season.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, Butler was not only the team’s mainstay on the floor, but he also attracted attention on the payroll. He is making a whopping $54 million this season and $56 million next season. Even if other teams wanted to take on such financial responsibility in a hypothetical contract with an aging star, few would be able to do so concretely.
According to NBA insider Brett Siegel:The Warriors plan to trade Jimmy Butler.”
The Hawks have the ability to make offers that other teams can’t imitate.
Aside from LeBron’s trade to the Golden State Warriors (which looks increasingly unrealistic as the wins pile up between LeBron and Luka in Los Angeles), no other team in the entire league (other than Butler’s former team, the Miami Heat) has two expiring contracts totaling more than $40 million.
He will appear in the Atlanta Hawks’ duo of Kristaps Porzingis and CJ McCollum.
Porzingis and McCollum both make $30 million and have a combined total of about $60 million on their expiring contracts. No other team across the league can offer $40 million, much less $60 million, between two players on expiring contracts.
Sure, it’s possible a team could offer a longer-term deal, but the Warriors have shown they prefer to maintain cap flexibility, especially as Stephen Curry ages. Maintaining the ability to move pieces freely is highly desired, especially for large market teams. See the Trae Young trade.
If the Warriors want to move on from Butler and give Stephen Curry two legitimate tools for what could be (or at least close to) his last playoff appearance ever, CJ McCollum and Kristaps Porzingis are two of the most proven and true tools a GM could ask for. A healthy Porzingis led the Celtics defense to a title just two years ago, and C.J. would be the perfect shooter to flank Curry.
Given the obvious upside for the Warriors, what’s in it for the Hawks?
Atlanta stands to benefit from draft compensation. Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. is said to be willing to part with draft compensation, but it’s not a huge amount. Recently linked to Pelicans’ Trey Murphythe Warriors have no intention of giving up more than two firsts in addition to young talents Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Not only is it completely unnecessary to include Kuminga and Moody in a deal with the Hawks, but the idea that one (or even two) first-round picks would be acceptable to both parties is not a far-fetched argument.
Atlanta would be in a position to not only take advantage of the valuable cap space they have readily available this offseason, but also acquire future draft capital and a veteran leader. Golden State would benefit by immediately adding proven talent to an aging roster that desperately needs it. Everyone wins.
Please call me, Onsi.