Golden State Warriors Should Trade for Familiar Face After Jimmy Butler Injury
The Golden State Warriors are in desperate need of a vibe cleanse. Or maybe just a hug.
In the wake of Jimmy Butler's season-ending ACL tear, an injury whose impact only felt greater because it came during the ongoing Jonathan Kuminga debacle, Stephen Curry and Co. are hurting.
Easing the pain will be difficult, if not impossible. They need someone who can conceivably replace Butler as they continue their long-shot chase for contending relevance while also providing fans and the roster some kind of motivating spark.
Andrew Wiggins could check a lot of those boxes.
Sources told NBA Insider Marc Stein that "one avenue which will certainly be explored is the prospect of a Kuminga-for-Wiggins swap."
Kuminga and Buddy Hield would get the job done from a salary-matching perspective. Miami's grand plans for offseason flexibility would be much easier to execute with Kuminga (team option) and Hield (only $3 million of his 2026-27 salary is guaranteed) than they would with Wiggins potentially picking up his $30 million player option for next year. Conversely, if Wiggins picks up his option with the Warriors, that'll just mean his contract's expiration will align with that of Curry's and Draymond Green's.
Golden State seems to be preparing for a complete turning of the page after 2026-27, and Wiggins' deal would align perfectly with that plan.
Kuminga's upside (stop laughing; maybe it's still in there) might be tantalizing enough to get Miami to bite without any picks attached.
The way Golden State could pull this off is simple enough, but it matters less than the will. And considering how emotional the team was when it had to trade Wiggins for Butler a year ago, one imagines all of the key figures would jump at the chance to bring such a beloved figure back into the fold.
The tribute video the Warriors put together for Wiggins the other night says it all.
Golden State's 2022 title run wouldn't have been possible without Wiggins' lockdown defense against some of the league's elites—including Luka Dončić and Jayson Tatum. He hit massive shots, became a monstrous rebounder when the Dubs needed it in the Finals and never once took anything off the table from his teammates.
Warriors fans don't need the reminder that those are the qualities the franchise has long asked for but never consistently gotten from Kuminga.
This season for the Miami Heat, Wiggins is putting up 15.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 39.8 percent from long range and defending tough matchups every night. That production wouldn't replace Butler's, and it's difficult to argue Wiggins would make Golden State better than it was with the healthy multi-time All-Star. If Wiggins may not necessarily improve the Warriors, he can at least make them feel more familiar.
If you want to flip this whole thing on its head and get cynical about it, Wiggins' potential value as a $30 million expiring contract this summer could be key to Golden State trading for yet another superstar.
Not for nothing, there's precedent for this kind of sentimental, full-circle return in Golden State. The Warriors reacquired Gary Payton II, another beloved role player from that 2022 title team, after he spent less than a year with the Portland Trail Blazers.
In his first comments since Butler's torn ACL was confirmed, an obviously disheartened Curry talked about the need to "keep a semblance of our identity".
Wiggins isn't Butler; one was traded for the other a year ago because the Warriors determined they needed more star power on offense. They were right at the time, and Butler helped the Warriors go on a season-ending run that made them a dark-horse threat. Odds are, they don't win that first-round series against Houston without Butler. In fact, they might not have been a postseason team in the first place if they hadn't traded Wiggins.
Now, a self-admitted "fading dynasty" might find the best way to go forward is to reach into the past.
The Warriors are struggling to figure out who they are without Butler. Maybe Wiggins can do the next best thing: remind them of who they used to be.
Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't a realistic possibility ahead of the trade deadline. Anthony Davis makes little sense. The next buy-low Jimmy Butler acquisition doesn't seem to be available. Neither does Trey Murphy III, and the Warriors would struggle to post the best offer even if he were on the market. Given their options, the Dubs should see Wiggins as an obvious target—a replacement for both Butler and Kuminga that everyone in the organization would welcome.
In a season that started with faint hopes of contention and developed into one without any at all, that might be the most Golden State can hope for.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
