Grade the Trade: Warriors deal Kuminga for Miami star in sizzling high-risk pitch

Should the Warriors make this trade?

If the Golden State Warriors pursue Jimmy Butler, they are essentially forcing a win-now decision between Butler and Jonathan Kuminga. It would be nearly impossible to field a viable modern offense with Butler, Kuminga and Draymond Green filling out the frontcourt. To trade for Jimmy Butler is to move on from Jonathan Kuminga.

Making him the centerpiece of a deal likely means being able to keep Brandin Podziemski out of it, a necessary component to ensure the Warriors aren't merely fielding players in their 30s. This construction also retains Moses Moody, whose shooting and positional versatility will be important after losing both Andrew Wiggins and Kuminga.

Is the juice worth the squeeze, here? As previously mentioned, Butler is both old and injury-prone. He hasn't played more than 65 games in the last 7 seasons, and as a result a player clearly in the Top 15 for that entire stretch made just two All-Star games and three All-NBA teams.

Yet when Butler is healthy he is a playoff deity, a player who is unperturbed by whatever defense is thrown at him, a guy whose shotmaking ascends to another level and who brings playmaking and defense at superstar levels. He won't always be available, but when he is he's a Top-5 playoff performer.

Making this trade would be a massive risk. The Warriors would be mortgaging the future for a mere chance at a deep playoff run. There's just as much of a chance that Butler will miss enough time in the regular season that the Warriors are stuck trying to fight their way out of the Play-In Tournament, or that he misses the playoffs entirely.

There's also a chance that he hits the postseason healthy, and the postseason magic that he and Draymond Green can muster when the lights are brightest combines to put a real contender around Stephen Curry. Either the Warriors or Butler's Heat have been in the NBA Finals in eight of the last nine seasons, but they have never met. Could they make the Finals together?

That possibility is a tantalizing one; is it enough for the Warriors to give up Kuminga and two first-round picks? Probably not...but maybe. And it would make for one incredibly dramatic final chapter for Curry and this Warriors dynasty.

Grade: B