The Golden State Warriors have been rejuvenated after the trade for All-Star forward Jimmy Butler. Since Butler started playing for the Warriors, the team has gone 12-2. Golden State has improved its performance in the 2024-25 NBA season, climbing up to the sixth seed in the Western Conference and securing a 37-28 record.
Butler has played 13 games for the Warriors, averaging 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists. While he doesn’t put up star-caliber numbers, he affects the team in other ways. Defensively, the Warriors are now the eighth-best team. Over the last 14 games, however, the team has been the second-best defense around the league.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic was a guest on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on Tuesday. In his appearance, he talked about how Butler has given the Warriors a new life and hope to contend for the championship.
“He’s unlocked a belief, team-wide that they’re actually in contention,” Slater said. “I think Steph was getting a little beaten down by the idea that — I think they just knew at various points on nights that they just didn’t have the talent level. And that generally meant to them, they didn’t have a chance to win a championship.
“Jimmy Butler has given Steph Curry a reason to believe that he can get in a playoff series and have a puncher’s chance. And once Steph has that, you can just see his basketball spirit kind of lift.
“He’s unlocked the belief team wide that they’re actually in contention.”
Jimmy Butler has given Steph Curry and the Warriors new hope ever since arriving in Golden State!
Can the Warriors win it all? 👀@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons | @anthonyVslater pic.twitter.com/wccUgzX7oq
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 12, 2025
Slater also said that having Butler on the floor has allowed Stephen Curry to be at ease.
“He feels just more at ease, number one. And two, no more knee tendinitis… they’re not talking about it, they’re letting him play in back-to-backs.”
The Golden State Warriors will have one of their key players back
The Golden State Warriors have missed Jonathan Kuminga for the past 31 games. The young forward has been out with a sprained right ankle. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that the Warriors expect Kuminga to suit up on Thursday against the Sacramento Kings.
In an interview with Mark Willard and Dan Dibley’s “Willard & Dibs” program, head coach Steve Kerr also affirmed this.
“It looks good for Thursday… Assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks in the next couple of days, he should be back,” Kerr said.
Steve Kerr just confirmed on @WillardAndDibs that Jonathan Kuminga will return on Thursday:
“It looks good for Thursday… Assuming he doesn’t have any setbacks in the next couple of days, he should be back.”
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) March 12, 2025
Kuminga has played 32 games for Golden State this season, averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Before he was injured, the 6-foot-8 forward put up 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists in the last 10 games he played.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
