This Warriors Trade Idea Lands Steph an All-Star Without Touching Butler or Draymond

After spending so much of Stephen Curry's tenure in the NBA's elite tier, the Golden State Warriors have backtracked into the league's dreaded midsection.

Even worse, there's no obvious way for them to snap out of it. While the Warriors clearly need more help around Curry to have any shot at winning something of substance, the risk-reward calculations of an all-in type of trade seldom return encouraging results.

Golden State clearly won't make a move for the sake of doing a deal, and it seemingly has understandable questions about just how far a significant trade can take it. Especially since most star swaps would, for money-matching purposes, require the subtraction of a key component (like Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green).

But what if the Warriors could find an alternate path to an All-Star upgrade? Because there is a certain 2025-26 All-Star who might be a trade chip as soon as he is trade-eligible, doesn't have the kind of sky-high salary that would necessitate one of those aforementioned cuts to this core and should be gettable for far less than Golden State's full allotment of trade assets.

Sounds intriguing, right? Well, let's fire up the trade machine and get this (hypothetical) deal done.

Full Trade Details

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Golden State Warriors receive: Norman Powell (trade-eligible on Dec. 15) and Jalen Smith

Chicago Bulls receive: Kristaps Porziņģis, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and a 2028 1st-round pick (top-4 protected)

Why the Warriors Do It

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External expectations are nonexistent for this team, but internally Curry still feels an "absolute desperation to win," as the four-time champion told ESPN's Anthony Slater.

The Warriors would presumably love to give him some kind of shot at winning—they'd just prefer to do so without mortgaging their very uncertain future without him.

This could be the perfect have-their-cake-and-eat-it compromise. Curry would get plenty of offensive support from Powell, whose late-career ascension has seen him average 20-plus points in consecutive seasons and earn an All-Star nod in the most recent one, while Golden State would be out only one (near-) future first.

This deal wouldn't force the Dubs to fork over Draymond Green, still a mission-critical component of the system, or Jimmy Butler, a two-way star (when healthy, obviously) who helped Curry and this club reach the 2025 conference semis. It also wouldn't ship out draft picks that would convey after Curry finished his tenure with the team.

A Curry-Powell-Butler-Green quartet feels like the kind of experienced, savvy combo no club would want to draw come playoff time. Golden State was far from good last season, but the Warriors played like a top-five team (plus-6.9 net rating, would've ranked fifth overall) when Curry, Butler and Green shared the floor.

Add in Powell, who would bring championship experience, perimeter sharpshooting (a 39.6 percent career three-point shooter) and the downhill scoring element this offense often lacks.

Yaxel Lendeborg—a leading scorer and stat-sheet stuffer for Michigan's NCAA championship team—could add another dimension. If the rookie lottery pick proves to be a capable spacer at the NBA level, those pieces could align in intriguing fashion.

The Dubs should still have sufficient depth. De'Anthony Melton and Brandon Williams could split Podziemski's vacated minutes. Lendeborg, Gui Santos and Will Richard would cover Moses Moody's absence on the wing as he works his way back from a serious knee injury.

Golden State would even have a shot-blocking, floor-spacing replacement for Porziņģis with Smith, who might be far less dynamic but is also far more reliable.

It's the kind of group that could give Curry hope while, again, avoiding a gutting of Golden State's asset base.

Why the Bulls Do It

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Bulls fans who had waited years for this inevitable rebuild must have their imaginations running wild over what the future might hold for young forwards Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis.

But shouldn't there be more to look forward to? Especially when the short-term outlook appears so rough?

Even if Chicago sees building-block potential in all three of Josh Giddey, Noa Essengue and Dailyn Swain—and there are reasons to question each one—that's still a pretty shallow young core for a rebuilder.

This deal might go a long way toward deepening it. Podziemski, 23, has already popped as a complementary scorer, shooter and creator with flashes of becoming even more. Moody, 24, is a willing and able wing defender who made better than 40 percent from three on better than six attempts a night last season.

Throw in that future first—plus Porziņģis as a money-matcher with little guaranteed beyond this season—and this feels like the exact kind of package Chicago was hoping to get back when it surprisingly signed Powell, whose timeline misaligns with this team's by a mile.

If the Bulls guessed right on Podziemski as a long-term keeper, they might already have the backcourt component needed to complement their frontcourt. There are, admittedly, loads of defensive concerns with a Giddey-Podziemski guard tandem, but their combined scoring potency and playmaking capabilities could simplify quite a bit for Wilson and Buzelis.

Now, that could realistically comprise 80 percent of a long-term starting five, and Chicago would still have Swain, Essengue and Moody on the second unit. That reads a lot more like a rebuilder's young nucleus, and that's before factoring in whatever the Bulls might find in their upcoming drafts.

And who knows, maybe Chicago could get really lucky and have Porziņģis heal up in time to emerge as a deadline target for a desperate shopper? That would only add to what already feels like a strong haul for a 33-year-old one-time All-Star and a 26-year-old backup big.