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Below, we statistically break down which NBA players are the most popular among their peers when it comes to All-Star voting based on the share of player ballots in which they have appeared during their time in the league. Notably absent from this list are the likes of Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Jaylen Brown, which just goes to show that peer voting doesn't always align with on-court performance. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 55.70 percent of player All-Star ballots. An extremely popular player among his peers, two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo holds a sizable lead over the No. 2 finisher in this exercise. He is also the only one to ever crack 70 percent of the player All-Star vote, a feat he pulled off in 2018-19 when he earned an astounding 73.9 percent. That's the single-highest mark in our entire database.
The question for Dunleavy and the front office becomes: Are they willing to stick with Butler throughout a lengthy rehab or use him as a contract match to help smoothly get an Antetokounmpo deal over the finish line? Even in recent days, one league source said the Warriors have made it clear to Jimmy Butler that they are going to stick by him as he begins a year-long rehab. But actions, as always, will speak louder than words — especially if the Bucks are motivated to move Antetokounmpo before the deadline and the Warriors are steadfast in not including Butler as part of a package.
Another Antetokounmpo development that has emerged over the past 24 hours: We've heard further strong indications that the Warriors' pursuit of Antetokounmpo is unlikely to involve Jimmy Butler's contract after Butler sustained a season-ending knee tear on Jan. 19. So what does that mean for lifelong Warrior Draymond Green? It has long been assumed that a credible Golden State offer would have to include Green or Butler for salary-matching purposes.
According to team sources, there's a sense on the ground that everyone on the Warriors' roster besides star guard Stephen Curry is vulnerable as the front office chases Antetokounmpo and figures out how best to reorient the roster in the late stages of Curry's career. Because of salary-matching purposes, either Draymond Green, who makes $25.8 million this season, or injured forward Jimmy Butler, who makes $54.1 million this season, would be a necessary part of the outgoing package to make a trade for Antetokounmpo work. Antetokounmpo's salary this season is $54.1 million.
The Warriors have voiced to Butler a plan to keep him despite the ACL tear, believing he will rehab and boost them upon his return at some point next season. Dunleavy said he didn't "envision" trading Butler. They are not actively shopping his contract, team sources said, but everything is on the table in an Giannis Antetokounmpo conversation -- and Butler is the clear salary match, though a deal involving Draymond Green and several other rotation players is also plausible.
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Anthony Slater: Everything I've heard post Jimmy Butler’s injury beyond the Giannis stuff, put that to the side has been this like what the Jimmy injury did was lessen the urgency of now, now, now, where 22 and a half million sitting on the end of your bench, where you feel like you are a fringe contender suddenly felt like man you better flip that into something that can help even if it's expiring whatever. Whereas now you don't have that now, now, now, quite as urgent. You're focused on next season, repositioning yourself for next season. And again, they're going to explore the Jonathan Kuminga market.
Former Phoenix Suns HC Earl Watson said he stopped a trade that would’ve sent Devin Booker to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler: “We’re on a road trip. [Robert] Sarver sends me a text, ‘Come to my house immediately’. I pull up to the house and I sit down, he [Sarver], goes, ‘We have a trade for Devin. We’re gonna send Devin to Chicago for Jimmy Butler”. “In that moment, I was the biggest Devin Booker advocate. It could’ve changed my entire coaching trajectory. I seen a kid that could be one of the greatest players ever. I said, ‘If you trade Devin Booker, I am resigning tonight.”
Multiple team sources have described it as less likely Kuminga is moved following Jimmy Butler's right ACL tear. Prior to that injury, Kuminga was a $22.5 million wing rotting on the bench, having not seen the floor for 16 straight games. Without Butler, he's back in the mix, scoring 30 points in 30 bench minutes before the injury. There's internal conversation that he'd get another crack at minutes post-deadline -- if he's still around. That has yet to be determined, though.
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League sources tell The Stein Line that Butler has received strong assurances from the Warriors that they want him back next season as soon as he is physically able. Butler, I'm told, has been urged by the team's key stakeholders to tune out any noise about Golden State trying to use his $57 million salary for next season in a trade that would import his replacement — to use Jimmy's own oft-cited metaphor — as Robin to Curry's Batman. My sense is that such a move, as aggressive as this franchise is known to be at owner Joe Lacob's urging, is not in the plans.
As for DeMar DeRozan, while he has been cited as a possible replacement In the wake of the Warriors losing Jimmy Butler for the season with a torn ACL on Monday night, a Kings source indicated the Warriors have shown no interest in the 36-year-old guard. As has been widely reported, Golden State’s strong interest in New Orleans’ Trey Murphy III most certainly remains. It’s just a matter of whether New Orleans will change its current stance and do a deal on that front. (The same applies to the Pelicans’ Herb Jones.)
Anthony Slater: Steph Curry’s first comments since the Jimmy Butler ACL news “It’s no secret this is difficult for everyone to accept the reality of what’s going on.” “As long as I’m out there I’m always confident we can win.” Full soundbite
Draymond Green: "And, you know, I saw some reports yesterday, like, ‘The Dubs will look to trade Jimmy.’ Like, stop. No one in our organization is moving that fast. It’s just not how it works. There’s a human element to this organization that is always weighed in. No one in this organization is moving that fast. Just not how we operate." "Um, so people coming out like, ‘Oh man, they’re looking to trade Jimmy,’ like you have these—these—I want to call them reporters, but you can't necessarily—I won’t use that term so loosely because there’s a lot of reporters that I respect and that do this job with integrity. That do this job. They do the—they do the work, and I respect them. So I won’t call them reporters."
