Jimmy Butler: Warriors Window Could Be Longer Than Two Years ‘If We Win Some'

Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler against the Houston Rockets.
Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler against the Houston Rockets. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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The Golden State Warriors were just eliminated from the NBA playoffs in the second round for the second time in three seasons and they completely missed the postseason the year in between. They lost 4-1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Stephen Curry was hurt, so there is still reason to be optimistic with Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler all under contract for the next two seasons.

And maybe longer according to Jimmy Butler who said that they still have a lot of great basketball ahead of them.

“If we win some, it could be longer than that," said Butler. "Because I still think we have a lot of great basketball ahead of us. I don’t think this age thing is anything with the way we take care of our bodies.”

Curry, who just turned 37 and suffered the first soft-tissue injury of his career, is the closest thing to an iron man in the group having played 70 games this season. Green just turned 35 and has done that once in the last five years. Butler will turn 36 right before next season and hasn't played 70 games in a season since he was with the Chicago Bulls.

In a very tough Western Conference with those three players taking up somewhere around 85-90% of the salary cap the next two seasons, they're going to need to play a lot of great basketball if they want to win anything at all. The good news is that he's not the only one who is optimistic.


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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.