Despite their interest in a blockbuster trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo before the trade deadline earlier this month, the Golden State Warriors were reportedly hellbent on keeping All-Star forward Jimmy Butler out of those conversations.
The Warriors -- nor anyone else -- were able to pull off an Antetokounmpo trade, something Butler might be regretting given his future with the franchise could once again come under the spotlight during the offseason.
Jimmy Butler may quietly regret Warriors whiffing on Giannis trade
While Mike Dunleavy Jr. was adamant in deflecting from trade talks with the Bucks, multiple reports surfaced that Golden State's package for Antetokounmpo was centered around Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, likely Buddy Hield, Brandin Podziemski, and all their future draft capital.
Once the Warriors realized the Bucks weren't going to be willing to trade the 2x MVP, they pivoted to a deal with the Atlanta Hawks where they sent Kuminga and Hield in exchange for 7'2" veteran center Kristaps Porzingis.
In doing so, Golden State retained all their draft capital for a potential run at Antetokounmpo or another big name in the summer. However, what the Warriors have from a salary-matching standpoint could look totally different.
The current contracts of Green and Porzingis combine to match what Antetokounmpo is making, but they're both widely viewed as overpaid with new deals potentially coming in the offseason. Porzingis will have a new contract as an unrestricted free agent, while Green has a $27.7 million player option for next season.
While Golden State could keep both players on around the same salary in preparation of a blockbuster trade, they'd be conceding that it's simply for that purpose and not because it's great value.
You can argue they did that with Jonathan Kuminga last offseason, giving the young forward a two-year, $48 million deal not because they thought he was worth that, but because it gave them a key tool to use in a trade.
If the Warriors bring Green and/or Porzingis back on heavily reduced deals, or lose them completely in free agency, suddenly matching salaries in an Antetokounmpo trade becomes much more difficult. Suddenly, the front office may have to reconsider the thought of trading Butler in the deal.
This is why Butler should have quietly been hoping for an Antetokounmpo trade to go down before the deadline, allowing him to feel much more secure in his position with the franchise. Now, things get a lot more complicated in the offseason where Golden State only have five players fully guaranteed under contract.
It's still unlikely that the Warriors go through the start of Butler's ACL rehabilitation only to trade him in the offseason, but it's more of a possibility than what we saw before the trade deadline where a Green-Kuminga-picks package was actually a rather simple offer to make.