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The Golden State Warriors made headlines as they traded for Jimmy Butler which no doubt sent shockwaves throughout the NBA, but it led to further conversation surrounding the NBA trade deadline. After Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had an emotional response to Andrew Wiggins being traded, he spoke about the scheduling of the trade deadline which garnered an interesting response from Richard Jefferson.
In regards to the news, Kerr would have a talk with his team before Wednesday's game against the Utah Jazz which seemingly was about the incoming trade for Butler. Kerr would say that the NBA should move the trade deadline to the All-Star break, which led to Jefferson giving respect to his former head coach while also saying “It's a little cowardice.”
“I do agree with Steve and I’m going to be very cautious with my words because I respect him so much,” Jefferson said during his appearance on ESPN's NBA Today. “He’s been a mentor to me in a certain sense. But I think it’s a little cowardice in my opinion to say we should move it to the deadline so we don’t have to talk to these players. Yes, there is a portion where I believe also that it should be at the deadline, but I also believe that you should have to look these players in their faces.”
“When players have to buy a house when someone just had a baby and you’re trading them, don’t make it at the All-Star break so you can trade them in secret,” Jefferson continued. “Or you can trade them without having to have them in the organization, or in the arena, or in the gym.”
Warriors' Steve Kerr proposes change for the trade deadline
Looking at Kerr's original comments regarding the trade deadline, he would propose that the league change the date of the event as there have been multiple instances where a player would learn the news right before playing a game. While that's the surface level of thinking about it, a player right before a game has to think of moving to a different location all of a sudden like in Wiggins' case, he had been with Golden State since 2019.
“I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break,” Kerr said. “Just so you don’t have to face these games where guys are getting traded a half an hour before a game and you’re trying to process the emotions and win a game.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr couldn't talk about the Jimmy Butler trade. He did suggest the NBA move the trade deadline to the All-Star Break, noting how tough games like Wednesday's can be.
“I don't know how to do it. But these are tough days, for sure.” pic.twitter.com/zdtfjUIkj3
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 6, 2025
This season so far, Wiggins has been averaging 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from deep.
At any rate, the Warriors now have Butler to pair with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and others in the hopes of turning their season around. Golden State is currently 25-25 which puts them 11th in the Western Conference, as their next game is against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.