The Warriors long have been looking to make a move — the right move — to help bolster their roster for the second half of the 2024-25 NBA season ahead of next week’s trade deadline.

Golden State is one of the many teams connected to Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, but the team is diligent about what it would have to give up in a potential trade to acquire the two-time NBA All-Star.

The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II reported there is “locker-room concern” about who the Warriors would send away in a trade for a high-salaried player, such as LaVine or disgruntled Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler. Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney could match the salary numbers, but as Slater and Thompson II note, all three are key pieces to the team’s locker room culture.

But is Golden State’s bigger priority talent or culture? The Warriors don’t want to waste what’s left of Steph Curry’s NBA clock, but as he recently told reporters in now-viral comments, neither Curry nor the team want to make a move that could be detrimental to the future of the organization.

That doesn’t mean the Warriors won’t compete, Curry later clarified, and they maintain their win-now mindset. Pairing a veteran wing with young forward Jonathan Kuminga could help Golden State balance both the present and the future. And if a deal is possible for the right price, a LaVine trade has “prompted some intrigue among key stakeholders,” Slater and Thompson II reported, adding that the presumption is he’d be a better culture fit than Butler.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise to many given Butler’s current situation (and past with other teams) in Miami. The Heat suspended Butler indefinitely after he walked out of practice earlier this week, marking the third time the team has suspended him this month.

However, there has been some “warming to the idea of Butler,” Slater and Thompson II reported. At least, the healthy, non-problematic, competitive version of Butler, that is.

Still, LaVine is viewed as “the safer option” amongst the two by some within the Warriors organization, Slater and Thompson II added.

Butler, 35, is averaging 17 points on 54-percent shooting from the field, with 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 25 games this season. He’s already missed 20 games and counting for Miami.

Meanwhile, injuries have derailed LaVine over his 11-year career, but he’s looked sharp as ever this season, averaging 24 points on 51.1-percent shooting from the field and 44.6 percent from beyond the arc, with 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 42 games with Chicago.

Of course, there are risks that come with potentially acquiring either player. But is it one the Warriors are willing to take before Feb. 6? We’ll have to wait and see.

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