If there's one situation that's just as, if not more dire than the Golden State Warriors right now, it's their pacific rival Phoenix Suns and former Finals MVP Kevin Durant.
While the Warriors have fallen back to .500 thanks to 15 losses in their last 21 games, the Suns have dropped to 16-19 after an 8-1 start to the season. Phoenix lost by 11 on Tuesday to a dismal Charlotte Hornets team that had won just one of their previous 18 games.
Unlike the Warriors, the Suns are aggressively pursuing Jimmy Butler
The Suns are now 8-18 in their last 26 games, but in fairness are trying to do something significant to fix that. Despite the complications in trying to execute a trade, it's become clear that Phoenix are the most aggressive team in pursuing Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.
More importantly for the Suns, Butler wants to head to the Valley as outlined by Jake Fischer of the Stein Line in a new report on Wednesday.
"The consistent word in circulation is that Butler wants to land in the desert not only to play alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker but because Suns owner Mat Ishbia has a proven willingness to splash out the lucrative contract extension he has been unable to secure from the Heat," Fischer wrote.
It's easier to be interested in Butler when you have the contract of Bradley Beal on your books, with the Heat forward undoubtedly an upgrade if Phoenix can pull it off. They'll almost certainly need a third team to take on Beal's contract, not to mention he'll also need to waive his no-trade clause in the process.
It's complicated but Phoenix are seemingly willing to jump over the hurdles to make it happen. On the other hand, any interest Golden State had in Butler dissipated as they refused to bypass their own roadblocks in acquiring the 6x All-Star.
The Athletic reported on the weekend that the Warriors aren't likely to pursue Butler before the February 6 deadline. While there are legitimate reasons as to why (age, injury history, contract etc.), it doesn't change the fact that the Warriors will have now missed out on LeBron James, Paul George, Lauri Markkanen and Butler all in the past 12 months.
What's Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office doing right now? What star player are they trying to acquire to rejuvenate their playoff chances? Who knows what may happen, but it sure seems like the Warriors are in a standstill with no real sense of them taking a major swing.