The Warriors already showed their hand. Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard reported this week that they came reasonably close to trading for Kawhi Leonard before the February 5 deadline, with much of the framework in place before the Clippers pulled out.
Kawakami also reported that the Warriors are expected to stay aggressive this offseason as they chase one more real run around Stephen Curry. That tracks with where both teams are now. The Warriors are 36-41 and 10th in the West. The Clippers are 39-38 and ninth. One team is clearly running out of time. The other has already started reshaping its roster.
That is why this idea makes sense now more than it did two months ago. Curry is still producing at a star level with 27.2 points and 4.8 assists per game, but he has missed extended time with a right knee issue. Jimmy Butler suffered a season-ending torn right ACL on January 20. The Warriors do not have the luxury of waiting for perfect health or a cleaner market.
If the front office believes the last great Curry window is still open, then Leonard is one of the few stars who actually changes the math. Here is how the Warriors can make a blockbuster move for a second superstar like Kawhi Leonard.
The Potential Trade Framework
Golden State Warriors Receive: Kawhi Leonard
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: Jimmy Butler, 2026 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick
From a cap standpoint, this is simple enough to build. Leonard is owed $50.3 million in 2026-27, while Butler is owed $56.8 million in the same season, so the Warriors would be sending out the larger salary to bring Leonard back.
The bigger point is this: the trade could be a cap-space move for the Clippers. Spotrac projects them as a team operating with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception next summer, as they could become a clean cap-space club. So the value here is not instant room. But they’d be turning Leonard into draft capital without taking back long-term money, because Butler also expires in 2027.
Why The Warriors Jump Right Into It
The Warriors need another player who can end possessions scoring. Their offense has been too fragile for too much of the season. They are 36-41, their offensive rating is 114.8, which ranks 18th in the league, and they lead the NBA in 3-point attempts at 44.6 per game. That profile tells the story. The volume is there, but the offense still stalls too often when the first action dies. It gets even worse without Curry. Their offensive rating sits at just 110.3 without him, 27th in the league. Leonard fixes that problem better than almost anyone realistically available.
Leonard is still playing like a real No. 1 option. He is at 28.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 61 games, while shooting 50.5% from the field, 38.5% from three, and 89.9% from the line. His true shooting is 63.0%, and he is also giving the Clippers 2.0 steals per game. Those numbers matter because the Warriors would not be trading for a name. They would be trading for a player who still wins in the exact areas that matter most in May: half-court shot creation, mid-post mismatch hunting, turnover control, and strong wing defense. Leonard next to Curry would force defenses to pick their poison on every trip. If they load up at the level against Curry, Leonard gets a tilted floor. If they switch smaller defenders onto Leonard, he can go to work without needing extra help.
This is also not really an anti-Butler argument. When Butler played, he helped. The Warriors are 23-15 with him this season, and he averaged 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists on 51.9% shooting, 37.6% from three, and 86.4% from the line. The problem is availability, age, and timeline. Butler tore his right ACL in January, he turns 37 next season, and he is due $56.8 million in 2026-27. That is a brutal bet for a team whose only real priority should be maximizing Curry’s remaining elite years. If the Warriors can flip an injured older star for a healthy Leonard on an expiring deal, that is a clear basketball upgrade for next season.
On the court, the fit is obvious. Curry still bends the game more than almost any guard alive. Leonard does not need many dribbles to get to his spots. Draymond Green can still run the connective tissue from the elbows and short roll. Kristaps Porzingis gives them size and vertical shooting from the frontcourt. That is a serious playoff skeleton. Leonard would also let the Warriors stop asking Curry to create every hard shot late in games. That part matters just as much as the box score. At this stage, preserving Curry is almost as important as unleashing him. Curry is still at 27.2 points per game on 39.1% from three, but the Warriors should be trying to reduce his burden, not increase it. Leonard does exactly that.
Why The Clippers Accept The Deal
The Clippers have already told the league what kind of year this is. They traded James Harden to Cleveland for Darius Garland and a second-round pick. One day later, they traded Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown to Indiana for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, and a second-round pick. That is not the behavior of a front office blindly clinging to an old core. It is the behavior of a team willing to retool fast, even while staying competitive. The Clippers are still 39-38 and ninth in the West, so this is not a full teardown yet, but the logic of a bigger pivot is already on the table.
In that context, a Leonard trade would be the cleanest final step. If Harden and Zubac are already gone, then Leonard is the last major veteran asset who can bring back real draft value. Butler would not be the reason to do the trade. He would be the contract needed to complete it. The real return is the two first-round picks and the fact that Butler’s money, like Leonard’s, comes off the books in 2027. Again, this is not about immediate cap room. It is about not carrying Leonard into the final year of his deal and risking the asset declining in value, whether from age, health, or simple market timing.
There is also the obvious off-court backdrop. The NBA’s investigation into the Clippers and Leonard’s relationship with Aspiration is still ongoing, and ESPN reported this week that there is no set timeline for it to end. It was previously reported that the league could impose serious penalties if wrongdoing is found, including fines, lost draft picks, or even voided contracts. That should not be overstated, because no ruling has been made. But uncertainty has value too. If the Clippers believe there is even a moderate chance that this situation gets messier, then turning Leonard into picks before the league reaches any conclusion becomes easier to justify.
The basketball side of a reset is already there. Garland is 26 and had averaged 18.0 points and 6.9 assists before the trade. Mathurin is 23 and had averaged 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds before landing with the Clippers, and is posting 19.4 points and 5.7 rebounds since the trade. Jackson is another younger frontcourt piece. Add the Pacers picks from the Zubac trade, then add two more Warriors firsts here, and suddenly the Clippers are not just drifting. They would have an actual bridge into the next era. Butler would simply be an expiring contract who could rehab, play, and maybe be rerouted later, or just expire off the books. That is not glamorous, but rebuilds rarely are at the start.
Who Says No To This?
The Clippers probably say no, at least right now.
That is the clean answer. Leonard is still playing at too high a level for this exact package to feel automatic. He is giving the Clippers 28.0 points per game on elite efficiency, and the team is still in the play-in race at 39-38. Butler, meanwhile, is coming off a torn ACL and will be 37 next season. So even if the Clippers like the picks, the player portion of the return is mostly dead salary in the short term. That matters. Teams usually want either a real young player, a healthier win-now veteran, or a larger pick package when they move a star who is still this productive.
That said, the gap is not massive. If the Clippers commit harder to a rebuild, or if the investigation keeps hanging over the franchise deep into the offseason, then the appeal of simply cashing out Leonard for picks rises fast. The Warriors would say yes immediately because their motive is obvious. They need the best possible version of next season around Curry, not the safest version. The Clippers are the hold-up because they can probably ask for more today. So this framework is credible, but it is probably a starting point, not a finished deal.
