Warriors Weighed a Butler-for-Anthony Davis Deal, Then Walked Away

Golden State reportedly took a hard look at swapping Jimmy Butler for Wizards center Anthony Davis this offseason — and then backed off. Per reporting from The Ringer's Logan Murdock, a small pocket of the Warriors front office pushed to send Butler plus draft capital to Washington for Davis before the group ultimately passed.

Two things sank it. Davis and agent Rich Paul want an extension on top of the $121M still owed on his current contract, and the availability question is brutal: Davis has suited up for just 29 games since the Mavericks pulled off the Luka Doncic swap in early 2025. He logged only 20 games in 2025-26, posting 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

Why the Warriors Blinked

This is the part that should make fantasy managers pause. Golden State isn't allergic to injury risk — they handed Kristaps Porzingis money despite him missing 90 games over the prior two seasons, and Porzingis appeared in just 32 games himself in 2025-26 (16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 30.8 FPTS/G actual). If a player's health scares off that front office, the flag is enormous.

There's also the Rich Paul factor. The extension demand meant Golden State would've been on the hook not just for the trade but for a fresh commitment to a soon-to-be-33-year-old big who can't stay on the floor. Trading for Davis and simply hoping he plays out his existing deal was theoretically on the table — but nobody in the building seemed eager to sign up for that gamble.

The Butler side of the ledger isn't spotless either. There's chatter, floated by Danny Emmerman, that Butler was angling to rejoin the Warriors as early as Christmas — a notion the report treats with heavy skepticism. Either way, the deal never advanced, and both players are staying put for now.

What It Means On the Court

For Washington, keeping Davis means a veteran anchor on a rebuilding roster — usage and touches won't be a problem when he's healthy. The issue is never the per-game production. It's the availability. When AD plays, he's a top-five fantasy big. When he doesn't, he's a roster spot collecting dust.

Golden State, meanwhile, holds onto Butler and its picks and avoids stacking two fragile stars on the same books. That's the sensible read, even if it's not the splashy one.

The Fantasy Fallout

Davis carries our rank of #13 overall (#5 among forwards) on the strength of his 44.2 FPTS/G in 2025-26 — but that's an actual result built on a 20-game sample, and his last five games ran 7.3 fantasy points below his season average. That combination is the definition of a value trap in redraft and dynasty alike.

The winner here is anyone who owned Davis and can still command an ace-level price in a dynasty deal — his name value outstrips his 2026-27 reliability. The loser is the manager who drafts him expecting 70-plus games. Porzingis owners get nothing new; he's still the #83-ranked, injury-prone flier he was.

Bottom line: treat Davis as a SELL HIGH. If a leaguemate still values him as a top-15 asset, cash that in now. The Warriors just told you, in as many words, that they didn't trust his body enough to pay for it — and they know more than we do.