Gilbert Arenas has made a hot take about the Golden State Warriors and Jimmy Butler’s role on the team. He feels that Butler is not the best second option for the team, a statement with which Eddie Johnson agrees.
Ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors have an interesting team. They have one of the oldest core groups of players in the league, headlined by Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. They are the star players for this team and are the most dangerous options on offense.
While Butler got accustomed to being the go-to guy for the Miami Heat, he will likely be the second option in Golden State. He performed well in the second half of the 2024-25 season, but the real test will be playing with a full training camp under his belt.
Unfortunately, former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas has made his usual bombastic takes again. This time, he said that Butler is not a true second option for the Warriors. Even though it might be a huge claim, NBA player-turned-commentator Eddie Johnson agrees with the statement. Since he plays a more unselfish style, Johnson and Arenas might have a good point.
Johnson defends Arenas’ take about Butler’s role
As a former NBA player and a current commentator, Johnson is quite observant about the league. Johnson thinks that Butler is a talented player, but he feels that he can be a bit too passive. That is the same sentiment that Dwyane Wade previously expressed.
Considering Wade played with Butler on the Chicago Bulls, he is very familiar with how the veteran wing plays basketball. Now that he is on the Warriors, most people expect him to be the second option alongside Curry. Thankfully for the Warriors, Butler is motivated, especially after the fiasco with the Heat.
However, Arenas and Johnson make the point that Butler might disappoint some people with his play style. He is not an explosive scorer like Klay Thompson or Jordan Poole, whom Curry is used to playing with. Butler is more of a methodical player who loves to be a playmaker, and he often gets his points at the free-throw line.
“The fact that Gilbert fixed his mouth to say that should make Butler ticked off, but is he wrong? I say no, Jimmy will defer offensively, and I have said for years that he needs to be more aggressive offensively, especially this year,” Johnson said on X in response to Arenas’ quote.
The Warriors can prove Arenas and Johnson wrong
In a Steve Kerr offense, the Warriors can always score a bunch of points. They love off-ball movement, an area in which Steph Curry is probably the best. However, other players on the roster are also elite off-ball movers, such as Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield.
Butler is not the prototypical Warriors player, but he proved in the second half of the 2024-25 season that he could work within Kerr’s system. It will be challenging at first, but Butler is known to be a good teammate to work with.
Arenas and Johnson might say that he is a bit too passive on offense, but that could change. With Kerr, Curry, and Draymond Green encouraging him to be the second star, Butler can emerge as a top player for the Warriors.
The Golden State roster is good enough to compete in the upper echelon of the Western Conference. It will be challenging, but Butler and the rest of the team are ready to prove they deserve to be a top team in the West.
