The Golden State Warriors found themselves in a major pickle when Jimmy Butler went down with a torn ACL on Monday night. As the Warriors' second-best player and one of their leaders in the locker room, it was a huge blow to their momentum and postseason prospects when he was ruled out for the rest of the season.

In the aftermath of a major injury like this, questions inevitably arise about how a team and its players will respond, especially when it significantly shifts the team's outlook for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs. When it comes to the Warriors and their stars' advanced age, the questions begin to direct towards whether players like Steph Curry or Draymond Green may look to compete elsewhere that's more suited for the playoffs with the final years of their talent.

On the Willard and Dibs show on Wednesday, Steve Kerr spoke on the big picture for the Warriors and gave insight into how he reacts to this, contrary to how many fans do.

"When stuff like this happens, yeah maybe fans think of existential questions. I think we think about our lives — 'Are we enjoying what we're doing, do we enjoy who we're working with?' Why would we want to leave that if the answer is yes and we're enjoying ourselves?"

Kerr dove into Curry's situation, specifically, to make his point, driving home the idea of loyalty and love for the team that many fans often gloss over in favor of competing for a championship.

"Take Steph, for example. Think of the life he has in the Bay Area, think of what he has meant to the Warriors and vice versa. I can't imagine he's sitting there thinking 'I've gotta get out of here.' I haven't talked to him about it, but I would be shocked if that were on his mind. I think everybody here loves it here, we love this organization, we love working together, and the plan is we move forward, we keep pushing, we keep competing, and let's see what we can do."

It's no doubt a difficult scenario, but Kerr seemed confident that the team would remain bought in on the Warriors' season and gave no indications that anyone would believe otherwise.

Despite Kerr being very positive about the big picture and the general future ahead, there is still the dominating question of how they'll handle the lost production from Butler.

With the trade deadline in two weeks, that seems to be the most likely place to turn if the Warriors want to remain serious about contending this season. Many of the trade rumors prior to the injury were centered around trading Jonathan Kuminga for a role player or a sub-star — someone who could connect well with Curry and Butler and elevate the Warriors' ceiling beyond a first or second-round playoff exit.

However, with Butler now out and Curry left to stand as the lone star on the team, some of the trade rumors have now begun to swirl around a couple of bigger names, though the role player rumors are still prevalent. Players like DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine from the Sacramento Kings have been rumored to be linked to the Warriors to provide a star-level scoring punch, even though their other attributes may be lacking compared to some of the role players the Warriors have been rumored to be interested in. 

Additionally, the Warriors could end up taking the call inside the house, simply sticking with what seems to be their current plan of boosting the minutes of players already on the team. In particular, that means playing Kuminga, despite his trade demand from last week. Kuminga fills in the forward position that Butler left vacant and played well on Tuesday for the first time in over a month, though it did come in a blowout loss to the Raptors.

Difficult decisions lie ahead for the Warriors, no matter what direction they take. With a four-game road trip on deck, it'll have to be trial by fire.