The Warriors are approaching their first full NBA season with Jimmy Butler in the mix after a successful half-season sample size.
Everyone, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, will be keeping an eye on how Butler helps Steph Curry and Co. as they make a run at the 2025-26 NBA title.
Smith recently revealed his list of the top five players to watch during the upcoming NBA season, and the pundit has Butler ranked at No. 4, ahead of Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving and behind new Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić and Mavericks center Anthony Davis.
“Here’s why [Butler] is so important,” Smith said on “First Take” on Friday morning. “Because his teammate [Curry] is the greatest shooter God has ever created, who, by the way, hospitalizes opponents who chase him around stupidly, trying to find out how you can do what you can with him and then they got to go to the hospital for oxygen, for air, because Steph Curry can do that to you, OK?
“You can’t ask him at age 37 to continue to do that without stepping up and showing Jimmy Buckets who the hell Jimmy Buckets is, reminding the world of Jimmy Buckets and what he brings to the table. Didn’t see much of that against Minnesota after Steph Curry went down. Got to make up for that this upcoming season, a full season under your belt in Golden State, because if Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry are on their game, noise can be made in the Western Conference.”
Butler, last season, joined the Warriors’ lineup on Feb. 8. Entering that game against the Chicago Bulls, Golden State had a 25-26 record, but went 23-8 to close out the regular season with a 48-34 record, good enough to secure the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed and the top spot in the play-in tournament, which they advanced out of.
In the Warriors’ first-round NBA playoff series against the Rockets, Butler averaged 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists in six contests. He did sustain a pelvic contusion in Game 2 of the series that caused him to miss Game 3. He played in the final four games against Houston and scored at least 20 points three times, including 27 points twice.
Against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round, Butler was forced to carry the load for much of the series after Curry suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1, which the Warriors ultimately won. While Butler averaged 20.3 points in the four games without Curry, Golden State lost all four contests.
Curry gives any Warriors team a chance to win, but the franchise knows it needs him and Butler at the top of their game if they want to compete in a stacked Western Conference.
Dub Nation, the NBA world and Stephen A. all will be keeping a close watch on how Butler helps the Warriors this season.
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