The Golden State Warriors had little room for error once Stephen Curry went down with a hamstring injury, and that's been proven the case with three-straight losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves that's put their season on life support.
The 117-110 Game 4 loss on Monday night was particularly jarring given the passiveness of Jimmy Butler, suggesting the Warriors should be all in on trying to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason.
The Warriors need to find a path to obtaining Giannis Antetokounmpo
ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Monday that Antetokounmpo is open to exploring where his future may lie, with that news giving Golden State some potential hope in the dream of acquiring the Milwaukee Bucks superstar and pairing him with fellow 2x MVP Stephen Curry.
Make no mistake, the trade for Butler in early February has been the biggest factor behind the Warriors even making the playoffs, yet Monday's game showed the franchise could do with an even bigger upgrade.
After going scoreless in the final eight minutes on Saturday, Butler took just nine field-goal attempts and scored only 14 points in Game 4. While the 6x All-Star has hade a huge impact on Golden State in recent months, perhaps it's proof that at 35-years-old he's no longer capable of being the consistently great playoff performer he once was.
With Butler struggling, the Warriors unsurprisingly failed to create enough offense, most notably from the 3-point line as their lack of spacing saw them shoot 8-of-27 (29.6%) from beyond the arc. Jonathan Kuminga tried his best with 16 first-half points that saw Golden State hold a 60-58 advantage after 24 minutes, but it wasn't sustainable as the hosts couldn't find an answer for Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle who combined for 61 points.
Whether it's dealing Butler or another package that includes franchise legend Draymond Green, Golden State need to try and get in on the Antetokounmpo conversation this offseason. Were he in Butler's spot right now for example, it's easy to envisage that the Warriors would have won at least one, if not both home games in this series despite Curry sitting on the sidelines.
That's not to take away from anything Butler has done for this team, or what Green has done as one of the best and most accomplished players the franchise has ever had, but this is an MVP-level player who could become available and would be able to hold the fort in a way the team hasn't been able to do since Curry went down.
The Warriors' hopes of landing Antetokounmpo may have improved as a result of Charania's report, yet they're still at long odds given multiple rivals around the league will be able to put together far better offers.