The Golden State Warriors got their man ahead of the 2025 trade deadline, landing Jimmy Butler and going 14-1 with him in the lineup since.
The move has rocketed the Dubs into the sixth place in the Western Conference standings and removed them from the NBA’s Play-In Tournament mix for the time being. However, critics have noted that the Warriors’ schedule over the post-Butler run has been exceedingly easy and that the team may still be a couple of moves shy of actual title contention.
If that is the case, there is little the Warriors can do about it until this summer. But once the offseason arrives, Golden State is expected to be active and has restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga with whom it can work to remake the roster around the core trio of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Butler.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report laid out some scenarios involving Kuminga on March 14, noting Norman Powell of the Los Angeles Clippers as perhaps the Dubs’ top trade target of the summer.
“The most significant decision the team has to make this offseason concerns Kuminga, who is expected to be well-compensated as a restricted free agent,” Pincus wrote. “The team can keep him depending on his price, which may raise payroll as high as the second apron. Instead, the Warriors could execute a sign-and-trade to get value in return (with a second-apron hard cap).”
Powell, 31, is a 10-year NBA veteran who finished fourth in the league’s Sixth Man of the Year voting in each of the previous two seasons. This year, Powell has assumed a starting role and is averaging a career-high 23.4 points per game for the Clippers (38-30), who currently occupy the No. 8 seed in the West.
The Warriors’ two other top potential trade targets are Cam Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets and John Collins of the Utah Jazz, per Pincus.