The Golden State Warriors made one of the biggest moves of this season ahead of the trade deadline as they acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. The Warriors still have some elite talent from their dynasty days as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are part of the squad, but the team has been struggling this year. Golden State is currently in ninth place in the Western Conference, so if the season ended today, they would make the play-in tournament.
Bringing in Jimmy Butler is big for the Warriors’ postseason hopes. They have one of the best players in the league in Stephen Curry, and they needed to pair him up with another star. That’s exactly what they did, but will it be enough for this team to make the postseason?
Right now, it looks like there are four teams fighting for the final three spots in the West: the Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The Minnesota Timberwolves are currently in 7th place, but it would be shocking to see them not make the postseason. The San Antonio Spurs are in 12th place, and without Victor Wembanyama, their season is likely over.
It should be a tight race all the way to the finish line, and a couple of figures in the West are expecting the Warriors to make the postseason. One executive thinks the Suns will be the team left out.
“Phoenix, which is wild to say,” the executive said, according to an article from ESPN. “They look like they can’t stand being around each other.”
One scout in the West thinks that the Mavericks are poised to fall in the standings, but they are also a little bit weary of the Kings.
“I don’t trust the Kings,” the scout said. “I think Dallas is the biggest threat to drop, thanks to all the injuries and the timelines for all of them to come back.”
Now that the Warriors have Jimmy Butler, most people are expecting them to end up in the postseason. However, it looks unlikely that they actually make the playoffs right out of the regular, as they will probably end up in the play-in tournament. Golden State is currently in ninth place, so they would have to win two games in order to make it to the playoffs.
The Warriors are currently 30-27 on the year, and they are 5-1 since Butler made his debut. They have been able to climb up a couple of spots in the standings since then, and it will be interesting to see what the Western Conference looks like when all is said and done.
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