Golden State Warriors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draymond Green: Jimmy Butler Was Warriors’ ‘Missing Piece’

February 24th, 2025 at 3:25pm CST by Rory Maher

Jimmy Butler continues to make a positive impact after being traded from Miami to Golden State. The Warriors are now 5-1 since they acquired the six-time All-Star, with their latest victory coming on Sunday in a blowout of the shorthanded Mavericks.

Former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green said during All-Star weekend that he expects to win his fifth title with Golden State this spring. Asked to explain that statement, Green expressed a belief that Butler was the team’s “missing piece,” according to Marcus Thompson II and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“I just know what it looks like,” Green told The Athletic. “This team all year has been kind of like, ‘Man, we’re right there, but can’t quite get over the hump.’ But there’s a reason that you feel like you’re right there, but can’t quite get over.

“And the reason I think we all thought we couldn’t quite get over was because there was a missing piece. That piece isn’t missing anymore. That piece is him.”

While some key members of the Warriors were reportedly leery of adding Butler, who has had messy exits with multiple franchises, Green was not among that group. A team source tells The Athletic that the veteran forward/center wanted the front office to add another “a–hole” to the roster.

“Jimmy almost won the championship leading the team — twice,” Green said of Butler, who signed a two-year, maximum-salary extension with the Warriors as part of the trade. “So he just needed a little bit more to get over the hump. I think we needed a little more to get over the hump. You combine those two together, and this one guy with an undying passion and wants to win a championship. It’s like burning for that.

“And then there are some guys who have done it before but are burning to f—ing do it at least one more time. You mix the two together with the know-how — because Jimmy knows how. Obviously, we know how. And what you get is what everybody’s going to see.”

For his part, Butler said he wasn’t aware of Green’s championship proclamation. While Butler didn’t make a bold postseason prediction like his teammate, he said the Warriors aren’t lacking in self-belief.

“I don’t pay attention to social (media), so I didn’t know that (Green) said that,” Butler said. “But we do have a chance. And the reason why is not because I’m here. It’s not because of the energy that I may or may not bring. It’s because everybody thinks that we can win. That’s all that matters.

“If everybody thinks that you can do something, then you can do it. I’m not going to say how it was before I was here. I don’t know. I wasn’t here. But when you go around this locker room, and you see the joy, and you see the excitement that everybody gets to hoop and play basketball with one another, we really think, and we really know, that every time we take the floor, we should win — home or away. That’s the difference-maker in this thing.”

Despite their recent run of strong play, the Warriors are still only the No. 9 seed in the West, with a record of 30-27. However, they’re only 1.5 games behind the Clippers, who currently hold the No. 6 seed — Golden State is eyeing that spot for a guaranteed playoff berth, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

As Slater writes, Butler has helped the Warriors not just improve but thrive when Stephen Curry is off the court, which has been an issue all season long. The 35-year-old has also brought out the best in Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody, who have been starting of late alongside Butler, Green and Curry.

“You can tell our fans see the difference,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “They feel the momentum just like we do. It was an important shift. The trade itself — I think I mentioned this after the Sacramento game — we needed it. We felt it. We were kind of treading water. We couldn’t get any traction in the season, and (general manager) Mike (Dunleavy Jr.) sensed it and made the move. Sometimes you’ve got to shake things up, and we shook things up. It just so happened that one of the best players in the league was available.”

Checking In On Open NBA Roster Spots

February 24th, 2025 at 12:06pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been no shortage of free agent signings across the NBA since the trade deadline, but several clubs still have at least one open roster spot as we near the home stretch of the season.

Using our roster counts tracker, let’s check in on which teams have openings and which are most likely to fill them in the short term.

Teams with multiple open spots on their standard 15-man rosters:

New Orleans Pelicans
Sacramento Kings

The Pelicans and Kings are both currently carrying 13 players on standard contracts, which teams are permitted to do for up to 14 days at a time or 28 days in total during a season.

New Orleans dipped down to 13 players last Thursday by buying out Javonte Green, which means the club will have until next Thursday (March 6) to get back to 14 players. Two-way player Brandon Boston is considered a strong candidate for a promotion, though he’s still eight games away from his 50-game limit because he has been out since February 8 with a sprained ankle.

Sacramento, meanwhile, dropped to 13 players when Daishen Nix‘s 10-day contract expired last Monday night. The Kings need to re-add a 14th man by next Tuesday (March 4) in order to adhere to the NBA’s roster rules.

Teams with one open spot on their standard 15-man rosters:

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Golden State Warriors
- Note: Two of the Warriors’ 14 players are on 10-day contracts.
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks

The Celtics, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Knicks are all deep into luxury tax territory and may not be in any rush to add a 15th man, since that player would cost exponentially more once tax penalties are taken into account. New York is currently restricted by a hard cap but could sign a player as soon as February 28.

The Hawks and Pacers have enough breathing room below the tax not to worry about surpassing that line, so they may look to add someone sooner rather than later, perhaps on a 10-day contract.

The Warriors, meanwhile, will dip back to 12 players once the 10-day contracts for Kevin Knox and Yuri Collins expire this Friday night. Golden State has some hard-cap issues to navigate for the rest of the season and might not want to get back to 14 players right away.

Teams with full standard 15-man rosters that include one 10-day contract:

Brooklyn Nets
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

These teams each have 14 players on standard contracts and one on a 10-day deal. With one exception, they’re all below the tax line and could continue cycling through 10-day signings or add a player on a rest-of-season contract when their current 10-day deals expire.

The one exception is Dallas. The Mavericks are right up against their hard cap, so once Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract ends, they won’t be able to bring in a new 15th man (or bring Brown back) until April 10.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Brooklyn Nets
Golden State Warriors

The Warriors will reportedly fill their open two-way slot with Australian guard Taran Armstrong, so the Nets are really the only team with a two-way spot available, having promoted Tyrese Martin to a standard contract last Thursday.

It’s a pretty safe bet Brooklyn will fill that opening at some point before March 4, which is the deadline for two-way signings. You can also count on several other teams promoting, waiving, and signing two-way players before that deadline.

Warriors Notes: Starting Five, Hield, Kuminga, Butler, Curry

February 23rd, 2025 at 1:43pm CST by Luke Adams

In their last game before the All-Star break, the Warriors used their 33rd starting lineup of the season: Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Moses Moody, and Brandin Podziemski.

The group helped lead the team to a road win in Houston and earned another start coming out of the break on Friday in Sacramento. After Golden State registered a blowout victory in that game, head coach Steve Kerr said he plans to stick with this starting five despite its lack of size, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

“I hope so. Because we’ve had a million different starting lineups this year. It’d be nice to stick with this for the rest of the season,” Kerr said. “I think it’s the best two-way starting group we can put on the floor. You get Moses’ shooting, you get BP’s play-making to go with Steph and Jimmy. Then Draymond and Jimmy at the five and four defensively behind the play. We lack size, but we have a lot of brainpower back there.”

Butler, the tallest player in the lineup at 6’7″, admitted that it’s “definitely” the smallest starting five he has been part of, Slater writes. Still, the Warriors’ big trade-deadline acquisition is confident in the quintet’s ability to make it work.

“I like it,” Butler said. “I do. You’ve just got some feisty individuals out there that’s fighting, scrapping on both sides of the ball, sharing the ball, scoring, getting stops. Small or not, we’re getting it done.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Buddy Hield has started 22 games for Golden State this season, including 12 in a row from January 22 to February 12. He has returned to the second unit following Kerr’s latest lineup change, but the Warriors’ coach said the veteran sharpshooter remains “a huge part of what we’re doing,” according to Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. “The way we’re starting is not a reflection of his play,” Kerr said prior to Friday’s win, in which Hield scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in 26 minutes off the bench.
Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who has been out since January 4 due to a right ankle sprain, participated in his first 5-on-5, full-contact scrimmage on Saturday, according to Kerr (Twitter video link via Slater). While Kuminga appears to be nearing a return, he won’t play today vs. Dallas or on Tuesday vs. Charlotte, Kerr said. The plan is to reevaluate him prior to the five-game road trip that begins on Thursday in Orlando.
In another story for The San Francisco Chronicle, Gordon notes that Butler’s presence puts Golden State in position to run an efficient offense during the minutes when Curry is off the floor. “It’s huge, just having another number one option out there so when Steph goes off the floor, we still have a number one option that we can play through,” Green said on Friday. “He doesn’t shoot much. … He’s just going to make the right play. He’s going to put guys in position to be successful and the defense has to react to him, or he gets easy buckets.”
The Warriors are starting to “figure out a good chemistry” with Butler, according to Curry, who praised his new teammate for his underrated passing ability, per Grant Afseth of Athlon Sports.

How Wembanyama’s Absence Could Impact Grizzlies, Cavs

February 22nd, 2025 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs announced on Thursday that Victor Wembanyama's second NBA season has come to an early end after testing showed he has a deep vein thrombosis (a form of blood clot) in his right shoulder.

It's a scary diagnosis, but the Spurs caught it early and are said to be optimistic that it will be an isolated issue. There's a relatively recent NBA precedent to back up that belief -- Brandon Ingram's 2018/19 season came to an early end when he dealt with essentially the exact same condition. He was able to return to action later that year and hasn't had any blood clots since then.

Given that Wembanyama is a rising star who has a chance to become the long-term face of the NBA, his return to full health is obviously the top priority not only for the Spurs, but for the league as a whole. However, his absence for the rest of this season will have a fascinating ripple effect across the NBA that could have a significant long-term impact on either the Grizzlies or the Cavaliers -- or both.

In the space below, we'll dig into how Memphis and Cleveland will be affected by Wembanyama's health issue, Bobby Portis' 25-game suspension, the Pelicans' Javonte Green buyout, and more.

Let's dive in...

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Western Notes: Smith, Thybulle, Kuminga, Nuggets, Suns

February 21st, 2025 at 9:17pm CST by Luke Adams

As expected, Rockets forward Jabari Smith returned to action on Friday vs. Minnesota in the team’s first game after the All-Star break. Smith had been out since January 1 due to a fractured hand.

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Smith had started each of his first 188 NBA regular season games, but he came off the bench on Friday for the first time in his professional career. As Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle writes, head coach Ime Udoka explained before the contest that he wanted to take advantage of having Tari Eason available on the first end of a back-to-back and didn’t want to throw Smith into the deep end in his first game action in over seven weeks.

“Tari (is) coming off some really good games and getting him to the minutes where we want him to be,” Udoka said. “But it was just a little bit everything. I think easing (Smith) back into it a little bit, not really conditioning-wise, but you see how he looks in this game and everything’s kind of open moving forward.”

While Eason, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, and Dillon Brooks made up Houston’s starting five on Friday, Udoka will have some decisions to make once Smith has gotten back to full speed and Fred VanVleet returns from his right ankle injury. The Rockets’ coach said that he hasn’t yet decided what his starting lineup will look like when everyone’s healthy, according to Lerner.

Here are a few more items of interest from around the Western Conference:

Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle, who has yet to play this season due to knee and ankle injuries, has started doing some light 3-on-3 contact work, but hasn’t yet been cleared for 5-on-5 scrimmages, according to head coach Chauncey Billups (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report). Billups indicated that he isn’t sure how far away Thybulle is from making his season debut.
The Warriors provided an update on Jonathan Kuminga‘s recovery from his right ankle sprain this week, announcing (via Twitter) that he returned to practice on Wednesday. Kuminga has been sidelined since January 4 and head coach Steve Kerr previously stated that he expected the forward to miss the “first few” games after the All-Star break.
According to reporting from Meridian Sport (hat tip to Eurohoops), the Nuggets are hiring former Serbian guard Nenad Miljenovic. It’s unclear what sort of role Miljenovic will have in the organization – Eurohoops refers to it as a “front office’ position – but he has a clear connection to Denver’s franchise player, having spent two years as Nikola Jokic‘s teammate with Mega Basket in Serbia from 2013-15.
In their first game after the All-Star break, the Suns made many of the same mistakes that resulted in six losses in seven games ahead of the break, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Star forward Kevin Durant showed some frustration in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss to San Antonio – Phoenix’s fourth in a row — with the Suns’ defense struggling to get stops, barking at head coach Mike Budenholzer, “You need somebody who can guard,” according to Rankin.

Warriors Sign Yuri Collins To 10-Day Deal

February 19th, 2025 at 3:33pm CST by Luke Adams

3:33 pm: Collins’ 10-day deal is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log. Knox has officially signed as well, so Golden State is back to 14 players on standard contracts.

12:42 pm: The Warriors will fill one of their open roster spots by signing guard Yuri Collins to a 10-day contract, according to Ohm Youngmisuk and Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Collins has been a G League mainstay for the Warriors since going undrafted out of Saint Louis in 2023. The 23-year-old point guard signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Golden State during both the 2023 and 2024 offseasons and has spent his first two professional seasons in Santa Cruz with the team’s NBAGL affiliate.

In 33 outings for Santa Cruz this season, Collins has averaged 14.2 points, 9.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .429/.271/.770.

Collins will join Kevin Knox as 10-day recipients for the Warriors, who had been carrying 12 players on standard contracts and have until Thursday to officially get back up to the usual minimum of 14.

While Collins’ 10-day contract will pay him $66,503 and will carry an identical cap hit for Golden State, it will count for hard-cap purposes as if it’s a veteran-minimum deal like Knox’s, worth $119,972.

The two deals will leave the Warriors just $1,132,362 away from their hard cap, but will put the team in position to go another 14 days with just 12 players under contract in March. If Golden State goes that route, the team would have enough room under its hard cap by mid-March to fill all three of its open roster spots and carry a full 15-man squad for the rest of the season.

Warriors Sign Kevin Knox To 10-Day Contract

February 19th, 2025 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

February 19: Knox has officially signed his 10-day contract, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. It’ll run through next Friday, covering the Warriors’ next four games.

February 14: The Warriors intend to fill one of the open spots on their roster by signing forward Kevin Knox, sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Slater, Knox is expected to sign a 10-day contract, with the deal on track to be finalized next week coming out of the All-Star break.

The ninth overall pick in the 2018 draft, Knox has six years of NBA experience under his belt, but hasn’t been in the league since being waived by Golden State in October. He appeared in 31 games for the Pistons last season, scoring 7.2 points in 18.1 minutes per night on .462/.330/.909 shooting.

The veteran forward has spent the 2024/25 season in the G League with the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 21.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 32.6 minutes per game across 28 total NBAGL appearances for Golden State’s affiliate. He has posted a shooting line of .495/.389/.759.

The Warriors currently have three open spots on their 15-man roster and will have to fill two of them by February 20 in order to get back to the required minimum of 14 players on standard contracts — teams are only allowed to dip below that minimum for up to 14 consecutive days and 28 total days in a season.

However, Golden State only has about $1.37MM in wiggle room below its hard cap, so the team will be careful about how it uses that remaining room below the first apron for the rest of the season. Simply signing three players to rest-of-season contracts isn’t an option at this point due to that restriction.

A 10-day deal for Knox will carry a cap hit of $119,972. If the Warriors complete a pair of 10-day signings next Thursday, they would have the option of going another 14 days with just 12 players under contract after those two 10-day deals expire.

Durant: No Beef With Warriors, Just Didn’t Want Midseason Trade

February 18th, 2025 at 5:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Durant had no interest in being traded anywhere this season and wasn’t simply avoiding a Warriors reunion, he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews (video link).

Golden State reportedly made numerous offers to the Suns for Durant prior to the trade deadline. Durant was “blindsided” that his name came up in trade talks and reportedly didn’t want a second stint with the Warriors. Head coach Steve Kerr said last week that he didn’t blame Durant for that stance.

“He took so much s— for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon,'” Kerr said. “And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized. So why would he want to face all that B.S. again?

However, Durant says his motivation to stay put was about not wanting to be uprooted during the season.

“People talk crazy about me all the time,” Durant said when asked about Kerr’s comments. “That’s not the reason why I didn’t come back. I just didn’t want to get traded midway through the season. It was nothing against my time with the Warriors, or I heard it was because I don’t like Draymond (Green). At the end of the day, I just didn’t want to move. And I wanted to see it through with my team in Phoenix. And see what we can do through the rest of the season, so I’m glad I’m still there.”

The Suns currently sit in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 26-28 record and had a three-game losing streak entering the All-Star break.

“We expect a lot out of ourselves individually and it just hasn’t materialized the way we want it to,” he said. “I know it’s disappointing to see us play this way. Our fans and people watching the game want more from us but you can’t think about it. We’ve got to think about the day ahead of us and trying to get better and figure out how we’re going to win the next game.”

It’s quite possible Durant’s name could come up in trade talks after the season. The 36-year-old forward remains one of the league’s premier players. His current contract runs out after next season.

“You have to ask the front office about that. I never planned on leaving or getting traded,” Durant said about the possibility of getting traded. “I didn’t ask for a trade from Phoenix. But, obviously, when you pay so much for a team and we’re not playing up to our expectation, someone has to go. Probably should check in with those guys in the front office throughout the rest of the season to see how they’re feeling about the team. I know I’m going to try to keep bringing my best every single day. I’ll let the higher-ups focus on what’s next.”

Durant admits he thinks “all the time” about the end of his playing career. However, he still enjoys the grind and isn’t planning to hang up his uniform any time soon.

“I’m still having fun preparing for games, preparing for practices, being a good teammate, being coached,” he said. “I still enjoy all of that stuff. So, I don’t see an end right now.”

Warriors, Cavs Must Make Roster Additions By Thursday

February 18th, 2025 at 7:57am CST by Luke Adams

NBA roster rules require teams to carry at least 14 players on standard contracts for most of the regular season. Clubs are permitted to dip below 14 players for up to 14 days at a time and 28 days in total during a season.

[RELATED: 2024/25 NBA Roster Counts]

Several teams dropped below 14 players on standard contracts earlier this month as a result of trade-deadline deals, but most of them have since made additions to get them back to the league-mandated minimum. There are some exceptions, however.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors briefly dipped to just 11 players on standard contracts after completing their trade for Jimmy Butler on February 6, then added a 12th man by converting Quinten Post from his two-way contract.

Golden State will be required to get back to 14 players on Feb. 20, which means making a pair of roster additions. One of those additions will reportedly be Kevin Knox, who is getting a promotion from the Santa Cruz Warriors after playing well this season for Golden State’s G League affiliate.

Besides Knox, the Warriors will have to add one more player to their standard roster by Thursday, either on a 10-day contract or on a rest-of-season deal.

Knox is reportedly receiving a 10-day contract, so it would make sense for the Warriors to go that route with their second addition as well. When those 10-day deals expire, the club could remain below 14 players for two more weeks before having to get back to 14 for the rest of the season. That would help Golden State navigate its hard cap and add a 15th man sooner.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers’ situation is pretty straightforward. They went from 14 players on their standard roster to 13 as a result of their two-for-one De’Andre Hunter trade on Feb. 6. They haven’t made a roster move since then, so they’ll need to sign a 14th man by Feb. 20, this Thursday.

None of the Cavaliers’ two-way players – Emoni Bates, JT Thor, and Luke Travers – have appeared in more than nine NBA games this season, so they don’t look like obvious candidates for promotions. The Cavs seem more likely to sign a free agent or promote a G League player from the Cleveland Charge.

Since their 14th man is unlikely to see the court much – if at all – the Cavs could opt to go the 10-day route for now and then make a decision on a rest-of-season commitment next month.

Sacramento Kings

Unlike the Warriors and Cavaliers, the Kings don’t face any immediate deadlines. But after Daishen Nix‘s 10-day contract expired on Monday night, they’re back down to 13 players on standard contracts. They’ll have until March 4 to re-fill that roster spot, though I suspect they may not wait that long.

Warriors’ Draymond Green: ‘We’re Going To Win The Championship’

February 17th, 2025 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors currently hold the 10th seed in the Western Conference standings with a record of 28-27. If the season ended today, they’d have to win two play-in games just to claim the No. 8 playoff spot.

However, Golden State’s trade deadline acquisition of Jimmy Butler has emboldened Draymond Green, who said during Sunday’s All-Star broadcast as a TNT panelist that he expects to win his fifth NBA title this spring.

“Since (Butler)’s been here, we’ve walked into every game thinking and believing that we’re going to win that game,” Green said (Twitter video link). “And that goes a long way in this league. When you walk in the game like, ‘Ah man, we’re probably gonna lose this game,’ it’s not good. He’s brought back that belief. And I think we’re going to win the championship.”

Asked to repeat that last part, Green continued, “I’m sorry, I said, ‘I think we’re going to win the championship,’ but I lied.’ We are going to win the championship.”

As Sam Amick of The Athletic writes, Green was simply going public with a belief that he had been expressing frequently behind the scenes in recent days. Green told Amick shortly after reporting to All-Star weekend on Friday that Golden State is “absolutely” going to win a championship this year, and he said the same thing to Warriors owner Joe Lacob last week, Amick adds.

Certainly, the Warriors have looked like a more dangerous team since Butler’s arrival, winning three of four road games heading into the All-Star break, including victories in Milwaukee and Houston. They still have plenty of work to do to even secure a playoff spot, but All-Star guard Stephen Curry didn’t balk upon hearing about his teammate’s proclamation.

“We love pressure, we love expectations,” Curry said during an interview on the TNT telecast when asked about Green’s comments (Twitter video link). “He knows that. He’s smart, he knows what he’s saying.”

Curry delivered a similar message during his post-game press conference (Twitter video link): “I’m excited. I got Draymond on the telecast guaranteeing we’re winning a championship. I love expectations and having something to play for, so he’s lighting a fire for sure.