The Golden State Warriors had a hot start to the season but have tailed off in recent weeks, falling to 6-6 and No. 9 in the Western Conference entering a Wednesday night matchup against the San Antonio Spurs at the Frost Bank Center.
Perhaps a shake-up could be to get Steph Curry closer to a fifth title in his age-37 season. Following the Dallas Mavericks’ Nico Harrison firing on Tuesday, CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn believes the ideal shake-up, for both parties, would be the Warriors’ landing Anthony Davis from the Mavs.
Quinn proposed two ideas: packaging Joathan Kuminga and Draymond Green, plus sending Moses Moody and/or Buddy Hield somewhere, potentially a third team, or doing either a straight-up AD-for-Jimmy Butler swap or re-routing Jimmy Buckets to a third team.
Quinn also warned of the chemistry repercussions that upsetting Butler could have if trade talks went public.
“The first (Warriors-AD proposal)? Trade Kuminga and Draymond Green. That's a bitter pill to swallow, especially since they'd also have to include either Moses Moody's or Buddy Hield's money in the deal. Do they want to get Stephen Curry a fifth championship badly enough that they'd trade away his career-long running mate? Would Curry want that? The Warriors are still light on ball-handling even with a Curry-Davis-Butler trio, and they'd have few resources to devote to adding it in this scenario. The second scenario is probably a bit more palatable,” Quinn wrote.
“That would be trading Butler, who makes essentially what Davis does. Either Dallas would take Butler and some picks or Golden State would have to find a third team. As Miami learned last year, that wouldn't exactly be easy. Is Phoenix still interested? The Suns seem happy with their lower-maintenance squad this season. Milwaukee is intriguing given their need for a wing, and they have a bit of room to make an unbalanced trade financially, but his iffy shooting isn't an ideal fit next to Giannis Antetokounmpo. There's not an easy solution. The Warriors would have to canvass the market and they'd have to do it quietly. Another lesson the Heat learned last year: you don't want an aggrieved Jimmy Butler in your locker room.”
Swapping Butler for Davis gives the Dubs a less awkward frontcourt fit next to Green, with less overlapping skillsets. It also gives Curry and Green an ideal pick-and-roll partner. Finally, it teams up 2/3rds of the Boston Celtics’ dream 2019-20 core, with Davis and Al Horford becoming teammates, while splitting up 2/3rds of it, which was Davis and Kyrie Irving, who haven’t been teammates longer than nine months and look destined to break up soon. Irving may be shopped by the Mavericks’ front office as well to tear it down and rebuild around Cooper Flagg.
If there are any concerns about Butler’s presence in Golden State’s locker room, one filled with strong personalities already, swapping him for the soft-spoken Davis would make for a better off-court fit too.
Curry has claimed he likes leading the team with Butler. That statement will be put to the test as trade season nears. Especially if Davis becomes available.