Stephen Curry’s championship window with the Warriors has probably closed, one way or another

When Jimmy Butler crumbled to the floor on Monday night and started dropping F bombs as he held his right knee, which was confirmed as a torn ACL on Tuesday, the Warriors’ season, which was at least starting to trend upward, ended. You have to wonder if the same can be said for Golden State’s Stephen Curry era. 

I know, on some level, it’s too early to start talking about finality for a guy who is still nowhere near his end as a superstar player. But we’re all thinking it. If the window for a fifth championship was still even slightly cracked, if only in theory, it has almost certainly shut short of two unlikely scenarios playing out. 

The first one would be trading Butler, which is unlikely but at least worth considering. Now you might be asking yourself, who would want to trade for a 36-year-old historically malcontent player who is on the books for almost $60 million next season and won’t even be able to play for the next 10-12 months? A team with its own crappy contract to get rid of. 

Our Sam Quinn outlined some possible trades that would fit this construct, with Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid at the top of the list. Personally, I think the Sixers are starting to like their chances with a currently dominant Embiid in the East this year, even if it would probably be a smart move to get off that contract before the next inevitable injury arrives. 

But let’s say the Sixers would be up for it. Would the Warriors? Almost certainly not. Embiid is due $59.5 million next season, $64.3 million the season after that, and $69 million in 2028-29 when he’ll be 34 and basically certain to be completely broken down. He’s barely holding it together at 31. Even making it the remainder of this season healthy is a long shot. And that’s before we even consider the fit of a lumbering big man in a Steph Curry offense. 

Davis is easier to envision. He’s also a long shot to stay healthy through a playoff run (hell, he’s not even healthy right now), but he’s expected to be back this season and he comes off the books one year before Embiid even if he were to exercise his $62.7 million player option in 2027-28. 

At full strength, Davis is interesting enough to pacify the puncher’s-chance fans even if there’s almost no way he would actually stay healthy — to say nothing of the issues he would pose as a clunky shooter next to Draymond Green. 

I’m sure the Kings would be open to talking about a deal for DeMar DeRozan or Domantas Sabonis for Butler and Jonathan Kuminga, whom Sacramento coveted this summer. If there is one trade that would possibly keep the Warriors in the contention picture this year and beyond, it might be Lauri Markannen. Unfortunately, Danny Ainge shows up to these meetings in a ski mask and the Warriors didn’t hold onto their two-timeline dream this long just to get robbed. 

Who knows if the Warriors will even discuss these or any Butler deals, let alone actually pull one of them off. Either way, to convince yourself that all these pieces are just going to magically fall into perfect place, remain healthy, and deliver another championship run to team that currently resides in the No. 8 seed of a murderous Western Conference is a major reach. My dad would call it a pipe dream, and the older I get the more I realize that man is rarely wrong. 

And so, if a Butler trade probably isn’t going to put Curry in a realistic position to compete for a fifth career championship with the Warriors, then his only chance to do so would be with another team. 

Now, I have a lot of thoughts on the trading-a-franchise-icon front. First and foremost, you don’t consider doing it for a second unless the player has either demanded out or the return is going to set up your next decade when your current window has closed. This is why Nico Harrison was a moron. The Luka Doncic trade didn’t check either of those boxes. 

And Curry means incalculably more to the Warriors than Luka did to Dallas. Trading him would shake the Bay Area and greater basketball world to its core. Having said that, I grew up in Northern California, have been a Warriors fan all my life, hold Steph Curry, athletically speaking, in an almost religious regard, and I wouldn’t have a problem with him finishing his career elsewhere. 

I’m a grown man with a family and bills. Sports don’t impact my life like that anymore; they entertain me, and Curry gunning for No. 5 on the Rockets, just as an example, would entertain me greatly. Tampa Tom Brady was awesome. If Curry were to ever open up this relocation conversation, we can reopen the one about him possibly winning a fifth ring.

For now, every indication he’s ever given is that he places more value on finishing with the Warriors than possibly finishing with a fifth ring. That could change. Curry is as competitive as they come. He’s still an elite player. The Warriors could still get a major return, much like Boston when it traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, that could set up the next era. Again, maybe a conversation will happen at some point. I seriously doubt it. 

Either way, until then, the best the Warriors can do is try to remain competitive over Curry’s closing chapter (nobody wants to see the final Kobe years with the Lakers). They may even still make a Jonathan Kuminga margin move at the deadline. But here’s the reality: The moment Butler hit the ground on Monday night, a lot more than just this season ended. It feels likely that Stephen Curry is done chasing championships with the Warriors.