Jimmy Butler Again Reminds Warriors He Was Best Pick To Be Steph Curry's Co-star

Jimmy Butler again reminds Warriors he was best pick to be Steph Curry's co-star originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Jimmy Butler ran down the right lane of the court and caught a pass from Gary Payton II to finish a 2-on-1 fastbreak. He jumped off two feet, and was vertical with a 7-foot Lauri Markkanen, absorbing the Utah Jazz star before moving the ball to his right and kissing it off the glass for two points. 

The Warriors beat the Jazz 134-117 Monday night at Chase Center to snap a three-game losing streak. Butler was their prize at last season’s trade deadline. Markkanen is the player they highly coveted during the 2024 summer. 

There isn’t a thing the Warriors would change about acquiring Butler as Steph Curry’s co-star alongside Draymond Green. 

“Lauri Markkanen is having an incredible run. He’s been playing at a high level for a couple years now,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday after practice. 

Markkanen going into his game against Golden State was averaging a career-high 29.3 points per game, slightly ahead of Curry, for the seventh-best mark in the NBA. He already had a 51-point game this season, three games of 40 or more points and eight of at least 30 points. The 2023 All-Star and former winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player looked to be taking a leap as one of the league’s premier scorers, especially at his size. 

Everything Markkanen does as an off-ball 3-point threat who can score in multiple ways for Jazz coach Will Hardy can be imagined in Kerr’s offensive system. The two coaches have history together with Team USA basketball, and Kerr highly respects the younger Hardy’s vision. 

“We see the game in a similar fashion, but to really be proficient in that, you need somebody like Markkanen or Steph or Klay [Thompson],” Kerr said during his pregame press conference. “You need somebody who has to draw that type of attention to create reactions from the defense. What I see is a team that spaces the floor well, that is pushing it, that is playing aggressively, playing confidently. 

“Yeah, they’re hard to guard.” 

So, Kerr stuck someone 10 inches shorter on Markkanen in the Warriors’ first game against the Jazz this season. With Draymond Green and Al Horford out to injuries, Gary Payton II had the job of guarding Markkanen to open the game and a handful of Warriors were part of the Jazz star having his second-worst scoring night of the season. Markkanen scored 17 points, nearly 13 off his previous season average, on 31.6-percent shooting (6 of 19) and only was 1 of 5 from 3-point range. 

He was a minus-20 in 33 minutes. 

Meanwhile, Butler was a plus-19 in 28 minutes, dominating doing what he does best. Always under control, Butler scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, had six rebounds (tied for a team high) and seven assists (one behind Payton’s eight). The furthest shot he took was a 13-foot jumper after recognizing a mismatch being guarded by rookie Walter Clayton Jr. 

Butler rebounded his own first miss, a contested layup through traffic, and tipped it back in for two points. His second miss was a driving layup where Butler expected more contact, and his third actually came from Clayton swiping down and blocking the start of a shot around his waist. 

The summer of 2024 for the Warriors was about Paul George and Markkanen. They dodged a bullet in George, who only played 41 games last year and has played just three this season. Markkanen had a down year last season while playing a lowly 47 games, and Butler, who didn’t get to play against George as a Warrior last season, highly outplayed him in his first game against Utah with Golden State. 

The Warriors’ focus at the trade deadline turned to a Kevin Durant reunion, which didn’t transpire due to KD not wanting to reopen that chapter of his career. Durant didn’t play last April when Butler and the Warriors blew out the Phoenix Suns. He will miss his Houston Rockets’ game against the Warriors on Wednesday because of a personal family matter. 

Any kind of Warriors what-ifs of Markkanen, George or Durant have been put to rest because of Butler’s presence. The trio of Butler, Curry and Green have played 14 games together this season and are a plus-61 with a 15.0 net rating. Green missed Monday’s win, but the Curry-Butler duo improved to a plus-50 in 15 games this season and they’ve produced a 120.6 offensive rating. 

After beating the Jazz, the Warriors at 10-9 are one game over .500, powered by three players 35 or older that still are elite. The Warriors again were reminded that although Butler wasn’t the franchise’s first pick before knowing he was available, he was the right choice in a move where they were able to keep all their best assets to keep building around him, Curry and Green in their first full season together.

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