The Warriors faced the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2025 playoffs and won the series in seven games. Butler, who missed Game 3 after getting hurt in Game 2, averaged 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks in the best-of-seven series. He only missed one game after suffering a pelvic contusion in Game 2.

What mattered, and what Joe Lacob acknowledged in our chat afterward, was that the Warriors’ choice to strike that balance between desperation and calculation that led to adding him had clearly