When the Golden State Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat, it wasn’t just about getting a star player for a potential playoff run. It was about capitalizing on their closing window.
Much like Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are entering the dog days of their respective NBA careers. Because they don’t have much time left, joining forces may help their chances of winning a title while they still can. It appears that they know it, too.
Draymond Green Reveals How Jimmy Butler Has Joined ‘Last Ride’
While talking with Warriors alum Baron Davis on his personal podcast, Green revealed a candid moment between him and Curry when they found out the Warriors had acquired Butler from the Heat.
“Steph, he look like he got belief after the trade. He looked at me and he said, ‘Man, it’s crazy because it just dawned on me like, this is it. This is the last ride.’ And I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ It was an emotional moment.”
"It's crazy because it just dawned on me like, this is it. This is the last ride."@money23green tells @barondavis how he and Steph reacted to the Jimmy Butler trade
Full episode OUT NOW: https://t.co/OdGESJ2LSM pic.twitter.com/axXyMPosgE
— The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis (@DraymondShow) February 12, 2025
The Warriors have not had much success since winning their fourth title in 2022. Butler helped the Heat reach heights no one thought he would when they made the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2022. At the same time, they never quite got over the hump.
However, the evidence speaks for itself for what Butler can do when he plays for a contender. The Warriors started out fantastically this season but fell off hard. Acquiring Butler is supposed to get their season back on track. With Butler on board, they won their last two games, and they won pretty handily.
Of course, that’s a pretty sample size, but victories are victories no matter what. Now that the 2024-25 season is entering its stretch run, every game will count for something. Golden State not only has a mountain to climb to make the playoffs, but they also need to secure their play-in spot.
It’s a far cry from where they were when Curry and Green ruled the Western Conference, but Butler gives them new hope as their title window dwindles with each passing day. And if that’s not enough, Butler has experience guiding a lower seed to the NBA Finals and recent experience at that.
Even if the Butler experiment does not result in any more titles for Golden State, Green, Curry, and the Warriors’ organization can take pride in knowing that they went down swinging in the end.
