Golden State Warriors Appear Destined For Play-In Tournament

The Warriors have high hopes again after trading for Jimmy Butler. Draymond Green went as far as predicting that his team would win the NBA Championship this year. But due to the down months that they experienced in December and January, Golden State appears destined to begin their playoff journey as a Play-In team.

High Hopes For The Warriors After Butler Trade

They’ll be in 10th place in the Western Conference when they come back from the All-Star break. It has been a slog for the Warriors just to keep their heads above water in the standings, as they have dipped as low as 11th place after being in 1st after the first month of play. Their nightly struggles were well documented, as Steph Curry’s supporting cast failed to live up to expectations, and they had a stretch in November/December that saw them post just four wins in a seventeen game span.

“We are going to win the championship” 👀

– Draymond Green pic.twitter.com/LgJLyEbBQI

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2025

The addition of Butler gives them new life, however. Curry now has the option of a second star player that fans had been clamoring for, and Butler has worked out well for the Warriors thus far. Though it is a small sample size, they have gone 3-1 in games that the newcomer has played in, and the mentality around the team has changed, at least according to Draymond.

But is it too little too late for the team to be able to pull themselves all the way up into 6th place in order to avoid the Play-In Tournament?

Golden State’s Has 70% Chance Of Being A Play-In Team

Golden State appears destined to finish in the 7-10 range, at least according to the oddsmakers. DraftKings has them at -230 to be a participant in the Play-In Tourney, which are implied odds of about 70%. But they also like their odds to advance past the Play-In, with their likelihood of making the playoffs listed at -140 (58%).

They’d have to overcome some good teams out West to be able to surge up to the 6th seed over their final 27 games. They are tied with the Kings, who have an identical 28-27 record, and Sacramento currently holds the tiebreaker. The Mavericks are still in the mix and in the 8th spot at 30-26, and the Timberwolves are 2.5 games up on the Warriors and sitting in 7th. The Clippers would be the idol team in the 6th spot, and they are currently 3.5 games up on Golden State.

Trailing the Warriors are the Suns at 26-28, and the Spurs at 23-29.