Charles Barkley thinks Warriors should try to get a Jimmy Butler because Steph is 'old'

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While Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry remains one of the NBA’s better point guards, he’s shown his mortality this season. Now long in the tooth at 36 years old, he’s averaging his fewest points per game since the 2019-20 campaign (when he appeared in only five games with the Warriors), and Golden State sits as the No. 11 seed in the West with a record of 21-21.

With Curry getting up there in age, Charles Barkley recently suggested that it would be in the best interest of the Warriors to try to trade for a player of Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler’s caliber. Butler has seen himself in trade rumors as much as any player in the league as of late.

“It doesn’t matter what they do, unless they go out and get a superstar and try to rebuild on it,” Barkley said ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline. “That’s their only chance because Steph is old.”

Barkley was then asked by Shaquille O’Neal if the Warriors should “go for it” in the 2024-25 season and trade for Butler.

“I think they should try because who’s the only team we sure of in the West?” Barkley said.

Ernie Johnson chimed in that Oklahoma City and Denver are two teams that could pose a problem in the West.

“That’s it — well, Denver gon’ have to improve their bench.,” Barkley said. “OKC’s (Oklahoma City Thunder) the best team in the West.”

Barkley then clarified that if the Warriors made a big trade, they could compete in the West.

The Warriors have been linked to Butler in the past. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported back in December of last year that Golden State is more likely than any other team linked to Butler to get into “substantive” trade talks for the six-time All-Star.

Barkley made those comments after the Warriors were shellacked by the Boston Celtics at Chase Center on Monday. Golden State lost the contest by a whopping 40 points sans Draymond Green in the lineup and didn’t have many positive takeaways on either end of the floor.

Stephen Curry and Moses Moody were the only two Warriors who finished with double digits in scoring, while Golden allowed the Celtics to score 125 points. Boston also torched Golden State from 3-point range, as the team knocked down 20 3s and shot 41.7 percent from deep as a team.

There isn’t much evidence to back up the notion that the Warriors, as currently constructed, have what it takes to compete for a title later this year. Golden State started out the 2024-25 regular season extremely strong, as it won nine of its first 11 contests. But lately, the Warriors have been little more than a mediocre team that’s been hovering around the .500 mark.

The Warriors will try to avoid falling below the .500 mark on the campaign when they take on the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night. Sacramento has come out on top in all but one of its last 10 games played.

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