3 NBA All-Stars the Warriors can recruit to Bay Area thanks to pure luck

The Golden State Warriors, after months of failed attempts to bring a second All-Star to the Bay, finally landed the plane with a Jimmy Butler trade ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline. The early returns on the Butler era have been extremely positive. We know how well Butler plays when he has a point to prove.

It remains to be seen if Butler alone can elevate the Dubs back to title contention, but his arrival and the subsequent two-year, $121 million contract extension is a nice starting point. Better yet, the Warriors didn't trade any of their most valuable assets. Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and several first-round picks remain at the disposal of GM Mike Dunleavy Jr.

As luck would have it, the Warriors are hosting the 2025 NBA All-Star festivities at the Chase Center. This is a great opportunity for Stephen Curry to get some recruitment in. The Dubs are on an accelerated timeline as Curry approaches the final stages of an illustrious career. If another All-Star wants to join forces with the former MVP and Butler, Golden State should certainly explore it.

This is how the seeds are planted for a lot of seismic changes in the NBA. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving connected off the floor before forcing their way to Brooklyn. Once upon a time, Draymond Green called Kevin Durant from the parking lot after losing the NBA Finals. If Curry, basketball ambassador, Olympic star, and all-time great, can strike up a few productive conversations with his fellow All-Stars over the weekend, it could pay dividends for Golden State down the line.

Here are a few worth paying attention to.

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3. Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Warriors' interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo is well-documented. Now, all 30 NBA teams "are interested in Giannis Antetokounmpo," but the Dubs feel like an especially realistic landing spot, should the two-time MVP ever force his way out the door in Milwaukee. In addition to market size and coastal vibes, Golden State would present Giannis with a chance to play alongside Steph. There isn't a better skills match for Antetokounmpo in the NBA.

Giannis is effectively under contract through 2026-27, with a player option for 2027-28, so the Bucks aren't going to trade him without a forceful request from the man himself. That said, if the Bucks, only four games above .500 as of this writing, fall short in the playoffs again, it's not hard to imagine Giannis getting antsy. He's officially on the wrong side of 30. These windows don't stay open forever, and Antetokounmpo has made it clear he's comfortable asking out when the Bucks' competitive aspirations no longer align with his own.

If the Bucks can somehow wrangle Antetokounmpo, Curry, and Butler on the same roster, that is a title threat in the West. No doubt about it. The Dubs would be playing a completely different brand of basketball than we're used to from the Steve Kerr era, but that's fine. There isn't a single NBA defense equipped to handle Giannis-Steph two-man actions, especially not with Butler waiting on the wing, poised to strike.

2. Kevin Durant

Look... never say never! This league is a soap opera and I've heard tell of some wild plot twists on The Bold and the Beautiful over the years. Kevin Durant reportedly shot down a trade to Golden State last week, but the Phoenix Suns are in free fall. The Dubs, with Butler, are very much not. Might a Warriors postseason run convince Durant to reconsider his feelings toward the organization next summer?

That all starts now. Steph needs to pull KD aside and have a deep, genuine, reconciliatory conversation over the weekend. Then the Warriors need to stalk the Suns like a lion in the savanna, making sure all their ducks are in a row for when the moment arrives. You don't even need to worry about the fractured Draymond Green relationship because Draymond would be getting a one-way ticket to PHX.

Durant still wants to win in his heart of hearts, and he knows Golden State gives him a much better chance to do so than Phoenix, whether he wants to admit it or not. He also understands first-hand the immense competitive benefits of sharing the floor with Steph Curry. He knows what Steve Kerr can do with a 7-foot shot-making weapon like Durant. This dream is not dead. It's merely on hold.

1. LeBron James

This probably won't happen, to be clear, but the Warriors tried to trade for LeBron James last season. That talk cropped up again around the trade deadline, as there was speculation over how LeBron felt about the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis swap. James has embraced his new teammate so far, but the Lakers yanking decision-making power away from LeBron and transparently catering their team-building strategy to Doncic is a new dynamic for James — one he's not familiar with after two decades of almost unchecked power and leverage.

Technically, James can opt out of his contract and hit free agency at season's end. There is a widespread belief that James will sign an extension and sign up for a couple more years in purple and gold, but who knows how the rest of this season will play out? Wouldn't it be utterly hilarious if Doncic's purported "bad habits," which led the Mavs to drastic action, actually rub LeBron the wrong way? What if he just gets tired of ceding so much of the spotlight (and the offense) to a ball-dominant point guard? Those are improbable developments, of course, but Curry can at least attempt to plant these seeds at All-Star Weekend. The Dubs need to play dirty.

We all have wondered what it'd be like to watch LeBron and Steph on the same team against proper NBA competition. San Francisco is a short flight up the coastline and a market with plenty to offer from a business perspective, which James clearly cares about. If he wants to tack on one final chapter to his historic NBA legacy, a title run next to Steph sure would be fascinating.