Does it sound familiar? The so-called “aging” Warriors are gearing up for another title run

The Golden State Warriors missed the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, but they made a strong comeback in 2022, defeating the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Steph Curry was 33 for most of that season, and Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were 31.

Their return to the top of basketball felt like it could be their final championship run. After that, however, their core faded once again: a second-round loss in 2023 and a failed play-in tournament attempt in 2024. Curry and his teammates, who had won four championships together, were aging like all athletes do.

Last year’s missed playoffs marked a turning point. Thompson left for the Dallas Mavericks in free agency. Curry and Green returned for their age-36 and age-34 seasons, but the Warriors, the ones who had won so many titles with Steve Kerr, seemed finished. It seemed like they had to be.

Or did they? The Warriors are now the hottest team in basketball as the playoffs near. They have 14 wins and 3 losses since February 13. This run started one week after they made a major trade with the Miami Heat, swapping Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler.

The trade sent away Wiggins, a key player from their second championship core, and brought in Butler, a player who looks ready to join a new chapter with Curry and Steve Kerr.

When they made the Butler trade, the Warriors were tied for 10th in the Western Conference, looking like they’d be in the play-in again. Now, they’ve moved up to sixth place and are looking, at least for now, like a real title contender.

The Butler trade marks a clear starting point for the turnaround

Butler hasn’t found his shooting rhythm yet; he’s made just 22.7% of his three-pointers as a Warrior and has had trouble scoring from all areas of the floor. However, Butler has five all-defensive team honors and is still an excellent defender at 35.

With him on the floor, the Warriors have allowed 107.6 points per 100 possessions, a defensive rating that would make them the best defensive team in the NBA if they kept those numbers consistently. (Without Butler, Golden State allows 113.1 points per 100 possessions.)

These numbers contrast sharply with those of Wiggins, who was arguably a negative for the team toward the end of his time in Golden State. This season, the Warriors have had a net rating 7.2 points better when Wiggins was off the floor than when he was on it. Butler has changed that, with Golden State performing 9.4 points better per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor than when he’s not.

Even though Butler hasn’t found his shooting form yet, he hasn’t hurt Golden State’s offense, which scores roughly the same when he’s on or off the court. Imagine how much more useful he’ll be once his shots start going in more often.

While Butler has been a great addition, what truly makes Golden State work hasn’t changed. Curry remains a standout player and has arguably been carrying more of the load than ever this year. His 32 minutes per game are a bit below his career average, which makes sense for a player who turned 37 this month.

But these minutes are intense, with Curry using up 30% of the Warriors’ offensive possessions, a higher rate than he did 10 years ago. Kerr gave him a night off last week and said his star point guard was “exhausted.”

Managing Curry’s health going forward will be key to Golden State’s chances of making another deep playoff run

Curry took a hard fall on Thursday against Toronto and left the game with what the team called a pelvic contusion. While it doesn’t seem like Curry will miss much time, injuries are never minor for 37-year-olds trying to lead NBA teams to championships.

The 11-time All-Star has been playing with great energy in the second-to-last year of his contract (and possibly his career, though that depends on whether Curry decides to retire before a major decline).

Even though the Warriors have been on a strong run, they won’t really contend for another finals appearance unless they get significant offensive help from someone other than Curry. Some improvement in Butler’s shooting will help, but the Warriors’ offense is not well-stocked.

The only other regular player averaging more than 11.3 points per game is bench forward Jonathan Kuminga, who is having the least efficient shooting season of his four-year career. Other than Curry and Butler, it’s fair to say that Golden State doesn’t have any other above-average offensive players.

However, there is hope in the potential of Butler and Kuminga, both of whom get to the free-throw line a lot.

Can Golden State keep up their strong play from the last month and a half? The Warriors have something going here. The exciting part of the past few weeks has been seeing that the magic of the Curry-Kerr Warriors isn’t gone, even with Thompson now playing in Texas.

Green isn’t the player he once was, but he is still valuable, and the Warriors perform better when he’s on the court than when he’s not. When Green is the main defender within two feet of a shooter, those shooters make 38.1% of their shots – lower than they did against Green 10 years ago, during his prime.

Kerr has been skilled at finding good role players to complete a roster

Even though Curry and his aging teammates take up most of the salary cap. This year has been no different, with the Warriors getting a lot of useful minutes from players who many basketball fans might not know.

The team has managed to stay competitive while giving minutes to bench power forward Gui Santos, the 55th overall pick in 2022, who spent two years averaging 14 points per game in the G-League. Guards Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski, first-round picks in 2021 and 2023, have become important contributors off the bench in the past two years.

This young backcourt has been more helpful this year than Buddy Hield, the veteran shooting guard whose salary is much higher than theirs, but whose performance has not matched his pay.

The Warriors who won the title in 2022 did so by balancing Curry’s leadership with their future. Golden State is trying to do that again, and they may have just enough left to make it happen once more.

Curry will continue to be the driving force behind the franchise until he retires, but in recent years, Golden State hasn’t had enough pieces to make much happen. But now that Butler has joined the team, the Warriors – for the first time in three years – are impossible to ignore as we get closer to the spring.

As always, there’s a strong feeling that we might be watching this happen for the last time. However, with Curry, Butler, and Green all under contract next year, it might be time to stop assuming that the laws of gravity apply to Golden State.