How a Blockbuster Trade Idea Can Save Stephen Curry's Final Years with the Warriors

The dust has settled after a wild 2026 offseason, but the NBA has given us plenty of unexpected moves in September and October in the past.

And one of its marquee franchises sat out the last few months, with an all-time great still on the roster.

The Golden State Warriors owe it to Stephen Curry to cash in some assets before he retires, and there's an Eastern Conference underachiever with some positional redundancy at forward.

Below, we'll break down how the Warriors and Orlando Magic could help each other, and how the Milwaukee Bucks could take advantage as a third team in the mix.

Before we get into why each team should be interested in this deal, it helps to see everything at a glance.

Warriors Receive: Paolo Banchero, AJ Green and Goga Bitadze

Warriors Lose: Jimmy Butler, Yaxel Lendeborg, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2029 first-round and a 2033 first-round pick

Magic Receive: Jimmy Butler, Yaxel Lendeborg and 2027, 2029 and 2033 first-round picks from Golden State

Magic Lose: Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze

As always, feel free to pick at some of the details here. You may think one team or another deserves an extra pick or two. It's the foundation of the deal that we're most worried about, and we'll explain why it makes sense for every team below.

Warriors Give Curry One Last Swing at Contention

As currently constructed, the Warriors have almost no shot at contention. Their position is the result of mostly standing pat this offseason, and bringing this roster into the campaign does a disservice to 38-year-old Stephen Curry. He turned the Warriors into a prestige franchise, led them to four titles and has been loyal to the organization for almost two full decades. Letting him spend his last few years scratching and clawing for a play-in spot feels wrong.

While adding Paolo Banchero wouldn't make Golden State a surefire contender, it'd at least show Curry that the front office is trying. It would improve the team's playoff chances. It would also give the Warriors a potential star to headline the team after Curry retires.

Getting Banchero, along with AJ Green's shooting and some depth inside with Goga Bitadze, would be well worth Jimmy Butler's expiring contract, a young(ish) forward in Yaxel Lendeborg and a first-round pick or two.

Warriors fans may argue that they're giving up too many of those picks in this deal, but it's not going to be easy to pry a former No. 1 overall pick from an Eastern Conference fringe contender.

The Orlando Magic are one of the most expensive teams in the league and figure to remain so for the next few years, with Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs all under contract through 2028-29.

That's a daunting proposition, considering the fact that this core has never truly threatened to contend in the East.

If Orlando wants to quickly uncomplicate the situation, it could break up the Wagner-Banchero duo, and this deal is a smart way to do it.

Wagner has long been the more positively impactful player of the two. Butler's deal coming off the books in the 2027 offseason makes him a valuable piece of this puzzle. And future Warriors picks should carry a lot of value, even in the new lottery system.

Once Curry retires, there's a high likelihood Golden State won't be a perennial playoff team.

The Magic would need to go out and sign another center to make up for losing two in this deal. And not having Banchero could mean a half-step back in 2026-27. But those picks and better-balanced books would help Orlando in the long term.

Because of the cap mechanics and the size of Butler's contract, the Magic would need to send out more salary than Banchero's, but the Warriors can't take Carter's deal back.

Cue the Milwaukee Bucks, who have a hefty trade exception from the Giannis Antetokounmpo deal and can swap Carter in for AJ Green while remaining below the first apron.

The move would obviously hurt Milwaukee's shooting a bit, but Carter is a starting-caliber center who's around the same age as Tyler Herro and would make it easier for the Bucks to unload Myles Turner.

No one would confuse Milwaukee for a contender, but a core with Herro, Carter, Ryan Rollins, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Brayden Burries and Kasparas Jakučionis would be plucky now and potentially dangerous later.