Jimmy Butler has the Golden State Warriors playing like a championship contender..
It may be time to pay attention to the Golden State Warriors.
With the addition of Jimmy Butler, the Golden State Warriors are playing a championship contender once again.
Many across the league viewed the Golden State Warriors trading for Jimmy Butler as one of the riskiest moves at the NBA Trade Deadline. However, the early indications that it could be remembered as arguably the best move of the trade deadline. It may only be five games that Jimmy has played with the Warriors but his presence is already being felt.
With how the Warriors have looked with Jimmy in the lineup, there’s a strong argument to be made that the team is playing like a championship contender once again. In the five games that Jimmy has suited up for the Warriors, the team is 4-1 and has been quite impressive on both ends of the floor. During that span, the Warriors have the sixth-best offensive rating, the fifth-best defensive rating, and the sixth-best net rating in the league.
Perhaps most importantly, the Warriors are passing the eye test. With a quality supporting star next to Steph Curry, it’s impossible to not consider Golden State, at the very least, a dark horse contender in the Western Conference as the final push toward the postseason arrives.
Seeding can make or break the Warriors’ championship chances
The Warriors have been so impressive since the move for Jimmy that it makes you think that perhaps Draymond Green wasn’t that crazy after he declared on All-Star weekend that the team was going to win the title this season. It’s still a considerably unpopular take but maybe he knew something that we didn’t.
There’s just one factor that the Warriors must consider even as they begin to hit their stride as a team this season. It’s the fact that seeding could end up making or breaking their chances of making a deep playoff run. Especially in the West, the Warriors need to find a way to break out of the 7th or 8th seed. Could the Warriors potentially take down the Oklahoma City Thunder or Denver Nuggets in a first-round playoff series? Sure, I suppose it’s possible, especially with how well the team has been playing of late.
However, that’s not necessarily something the Warriors should be looking for. If Golden State can climb into the sixth seed to avoid those two powerhouses in the first round of the playoffs, that’s exactly what should be the goal for the team heading down the stretch. That would require the Warriors to make up three games between now and the end of the season. That’s not unlikely but the Warriors don’t have much room for error.
That may not be a problem with the way the Warriors have looked of late. For the first time since winning the title back in 2022, the Warriors are playing like a championship contender once again. It’s the Jimmy effect.
