The Golden State Warriors are attempting to squeeze one last championship run out of their veteran core, but the margin for error is rapidly shrinking. Hovering around .500 and stuck in the West’s crowded middle tier, the Warriors have leaned heavily on Stephen Curry to stay competitive. When he’s on the floor, the offense survives. When he’s not, the cracks are hard to ignore.

That imbalance has become impossible to dismiss—so much so that even head coach Steve Kerr has openly voiced concern about the team’s ability to handle the ball and organize itself without Curry, a telling admission about where this version of the Warriors truly stands.

“Not always. It just depends,” Kerr stated on the Tom Tolbert show. “We have a lot of different guys we go to and rely on. (De’Anthony) Melton did not play in that game. That was big. And he really helps us because he’s a secondary ball handler. But even at that juncture, we had Brandon (Podziemski) and Jimmy (Butler) on the floor. We should have been fine.”

“The problem was that we didn’t get organized, and they’re really athletic. They’re long, and we had a couple of guys dribble into the coffin corner just pass. And we just needed to be better organized,” he further emphasized.

While Steve Kerr never singled anyone out by name, the subtext was unmistakable. His comments highlighted the Warriors’ ongoing struggle to establish a reliable primary ball-handler when Stephen Curry is off the floor—an issue the franchise had hoped would be resolved this season.

Kerr even referenced a recent game in which Golden State committed multiple turnovers on consecutive possessions, a breakdown in execution that directly swung momentum and cost them the lead.

Those moments aren’t isolated. The Warriors’ ranking just 19th in offensive efficiency underscores a broader problem: the offense still collapses too easily without Curry steering it.

Kerr acknowledged that progress is being made and that the group is improving incrementally, but time isn’t a luxury Golden State possesses. For a veteran team chasing one last run, gradual improvement may not be enough.

So, Golden State needs to step up its game in Stephen Curry’s absence. After all, when asked about whether too much pressure is being put on the four-time NBA champion’s shoulders despite him now heading toward the twilight of his career, Kerr said:

“Well, that’s why we have Jimmy (Butler).”

Kerr’s comments reveal a structural tension in how Golden State is deploying Jimmy Butler, not a question of talent or intent. “What I found is that the more we can play Jimmy with a group around him, that sort of demands that he take over. That’s when he’s at his best,” Kerr explained.

That’s less an endorsement of Butler as a co-star and more an indictment of lineup context. Butler thrives when the offense is simplified—characterized by pace, spacing, and a clear hierarchy—conditions that don’t always exist when Curry and Draymond Green are sharing the floor.

The dynamic shifts when Butler plays alongside the Warriors’ established decision-makers. “When he’s with Steph and Draymond… he tends to defer a little bit when Steph is out there,” Kerr noted. That instinct makes sense—Curry’s gravity warps defenses in ways no one else can replicate—but it also creates an unintended consequence.

Instead of weaponizing Butler as a secondary engine, Golden State often turns him into a release valve, a connector rather than a driver. Against elite defenses, that deference slows the offense and blurs accountability late in possessions.

The contrast becomes clearest in lineups built around Butler as the singular initiator. “They all just ran the floor, moved the ball, got it to Jimmy, got spaced and Jimmy just took over,” Kerr said.

That version of the Warriors offense is far more direct: Butler collapsing the defense, getting downhill, generating free throws, and creating clean reads for shooters. It’s not aesthetically “Warriors basketball,” but it’s efficient—and, more importantly, sustainable when Curry sits.

So, now it’s time for him to repay Kerr and the Warriors franchise for the faith they’ve shown in him despite all the noise around his antics. More so, with Stephen Curry struggling with injuries at the moment. And if he’s still unable to do so, it might be time to look for alternatives in the trade market.

Steve Kerr hints at a big trade happening in the near future

Despite having Jimmy Butler and others at their disposal, the Golden State Warriors have looked lackluster on offense with Stephen Curry. Although it’s no secret that the Dubs rely heavily on their franchise cornerstone, the only reason why Butler was brought into the team in the first place was to ease that pressure.

That hasn’t been the case. That’s why Steve Kerr might be forced to look elsewhere.

“If there’s something that makes us better, for sure,” Kerr said about making a big trade. “But all you have to do is look at some of these teams out there that have given up the world for a star player, and now they’re looking around like the Clippers, no picks. Phoenix, no picks. Milwaukee, no picks. You can really paint yourself into a corner if you’re risky and irresponsible.”

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While Steve Kerr did state that his team has some room to improve, he also cautioned that the wrong move might turn their franchise upside down.

The championship-winning head coach understands where his team is at the moment and doesn’t want to push the franchise to an extent where their future is affected, along with the present.

One reason this makes so much sense is that the Warriors don’t have much to offer apart from draft picks. While Jonathan Kuminga is almost certainly getting traded in the upcoming month or so, he cannot be the centerpiece of an offer for a bigger fish in the pond.

So, even though the Golden State does need some reinforcement on its roster, it cannot rush into a trade.

Nonetheless, whether they can acquire a good player on their roster before the trade deadline or not, their situation will be something many people will be watching closely, including us, as we continue to monitor their next move.