Draymond says Warriors acquiring Jimmy for ‘least amount of players’ would require GS to move 1-2 of himself, Wiggins, Steph

The Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline is nearing, and the Golden State Warriors haven’t exactly looked the part of title contenders this season.

Despite a hot start to the campaign, Golden State is now just .500 through 46 games. At this juncture, the Warriors hold the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference and wouldn’t even qualify for a play-in spot if the season ended today.

The Warriors have been among the teams linked to Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler in trade rumors, but Golden State veteran Draymond Green recently emphasized that it would be tricky for the Warriors to strike a deal for the six-time All-Star.

“It’s hard to trade a guy that make $52 million a year,” Green said. “… Say you wanna trade for Jimmy with the least amount of players that you could on our roster. That means either you gotta trade Jimmy straight up for Steph [Curry], or you have to trade Jimmy for me and Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins). … I don’t think you’re going to do that.

“So then, now you start looking at, well, you gotta trade like five guys for one guy. … Then, you start getting into, well, you need a third team because now you gotta clear roster — it’s hard to trade. And then also, another thing is, people don’t understand in this league when you start talking trades is great players don’t get traded.”

Wiggins had probably his worst season in a Warriors uniform during the 2023-24 campaign, as he averaged only 13.2 points per game across 71 appearances.

However, he has stepped his game up so far this season. He’s scoring the second-most points per contest of any player on the team behind only Curry and has suited up in all but six of the team’s 46 contests.

Meanwhile, although Green and Curry are both getting up there in age and only have so much time left in their NBA careers, they’ve been cornerstones for the Warriors for years, making it hard to see Golden State moving them.

But one way or another, the team may want to find a way to make a splash via trade in order to pump some new life into the franchise.

A trade for Butler wouldn’t guarantee a return to contender status for the Warriors, as the team is facing an uphill battle with its current record, but taking such a risk might be the optimal way to squeeze all that’s left out of Curry’s remarkable stint in the league.

The Warriors have won four NBA titles in the past decade, and it’s a safe bet that they’re hungry for more.