There are many avenues the Warriors can go.
The Golden State Warriors finished 37-45 and got bounced from the play-in again, leaving the front office with hard calls this summer.
Stephen Curry will be 38 when next season tips off, Draymond Green has a player option to weigh, and Jimmy Butler is still rehabbing the torn ACL that wiped out his January.
So when Bleacher Report dropped a four-team mock trade involving Butler and Kawhi Leonard, it hit a little harder out in the Bay.
The deal would not just tweak the rotation, it would rebuild the starting five in one swing.
The Trade
The proposal involves four teams.
Washington walks away with the No. 3 pick plus Indiana's 2029 first that the Los Angeles Clippers had been holding.
The Clippers ship Leonard and Bradley Beal up to the Bay in exchange for Butler and the No. 1 overall pick.
Memphis ends up with picks 5 and 11 for getting out of the way.
Why It Makes Sense for Golden State
Kawhi just put up what was probably the best statistical season of his career, averaging 27.9 points along with 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists across 65 games while shooting 50.5 percent from the field.
Slotting that production next to Curry finally gives the offense a second guy who can hunt his own shot and take over late in games.
Curry turns 39 next March, so the Warriors are not in any position to wait around on whoever falls to them in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Two former Finals MVPs in the same starting five drags Golden State back into the playoff conversation instead of the play-in race.
Taking on Beal's contract is just the cost of getting Kawhi through the door.
Why It Could Blow Up
Plenty of reasons to slam the brakes on this one too.
Butler was averaging 20 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the Warriors before his torn ACL, and Steve Kerr has talked openly about wanting him back in the rotation next year.
Trading a player they just extended through 2026-27 sends mixed signals through the locker room.
Leonard's injury history is well-documented, he turns 35 in late June, and he is in the final year of his deal at $50.3 million.
The Aspiration investigation hanging over the Clippers is a question nobody has answered, and that uncertainty travels with him.
Beal is coming off season-ending hip surgery after barely playing, and his contract eats up real cap space.
Giving up the No. 11 pick in a draft scouts have called one of the deepest in years stings too.
It's worth remembering Golden State has already chased Leonard once.
League sources told The San Francisco Standard the two sides got close on a deal at the February deadline before the Clippers walked away, and the Warriors are expected to come at it just as hard again this summer.
So really it comes down to Mike Dunleavy Jr. and whether he thinks Curry has one more legitimate run left in him.
