The Golden State Warriors have been on a tear since the NBA trade deadline, as the acquisition of Jimmy Butler has taken them from a battle just to make the Play-In to a real threat for home-court advantage in the first round. Golden State is 16-4 since trading for Butler, as adding another star on the wing alongside Stephen Curry has given them a gear we haven’t seen from the Warriors since the last time they won a championship in 2022.
While the offense has improved considerably with Butler providing another threat alongside Curry, it’s on the defensive end that they’ve become elite. Golden State is second in the NBA in defensive rating since adding Butler, just barely (0.1 points per 100 possessions) behind Detroit for the top spot in that time. Where Butler’s addition has brought out the best in Curry on offense, it’s had the same impact on Draymond Green on the other end of the floor.
Green has surged back into the Defensive Player of the Year conversation over these last 20 games, a byproduct of the void left by Victor Wembanyama’s injury that turned that award race on its head. Butler and Green have a similar elite defensive IQ, which coupled with their versatile abilities to cover multiple positions on the court allows them to smother opposing offenses.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has seen this before, and believes those two can be the foundation of a championship-caliber defense. Kerr told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk recently that he sees similarities not just with the Warriors championship defenses of the past, but to what Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did on defense in Chicago.
The instant defensive connection between the two Warriors reminded Kerr of Green’s championship pairings with Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala. But as he thought about it a little bit more, Kerr likened Green and Butler to another elite defensive tag team.
“Pippen and Jordan,” Kerr told ESPN of his legendary former Bulls teammates.
“Just incredible intelligence and athleticism combined with versatility. There’s definitely some of that.”
Kerr knows better than anyone what it means to compare anyone to Jordan and Pippen having won three championships with them in Chicago as a player in the 1990s. He doesn’t toss those names around lightly. It’s incredibly high praise.
While March in the NBA produces plenty of late-season mirages, the Warriors surge feels like the real deal. They’re just two games behind the suddenly skidding Lakers for the 4 seed in the West, and it’s possible they’ll be hosting Game 1 of the first round in the Chase Center next month. Whether they get there or not, no one will be excited about dealing with Curry, Butler, and Green in the playoffs, and they look like as big a threat as anyone to the Thunder in the West.
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