The Warriors have invested in (very) veteran players like no other team in the NBA
The Golden State Warriors invested in a very veteran player yet again this trade deadline, acquiring the disgruntled Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, a protected first-round pick and more.
The problem for Golden State is that Butler is 35 years old and is joining a Warriors nucleus that already features a 36-(soon to be 37)-year-old Stephen Curry and a 34-(soon to be 35)-year-old Draymond Green. That means if Golden State makes what would be a miraculous run at a championship this year, they’d be led by a core that would be roughly a combined 107 years old by the upcoming Finals in June. According to our research, that would give Golden State the oldest Big Three in league history to win an NBA title.
How wise that investment will wind up being for the Warriors remains to be seen, but at least owner Joe Lacob is giving his current group one more shot with a still-effective Butler, so he deserves some credit there.
Even so, we looked up how much NBA teams have invested in players who will be 35 or older after the 2024-25 season, and Golden State has by far the most committed, with a whopping $289.9 million (combining what is owed to Curry, Thompson, and Green). That’s a huge amount more than the team that finished with the second-most money invested in 35-plus-year-old player seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers, at $165.9 million. In third, the Milwaukee Bucks at $121.8 million, followed by the Boston Celtics at $104.4 million and the Los Angeles Clippers at $91.6 million rounding out the Top 5. That’s particularly troubling for Philadelphia as its roster has various players who aren’t that young but who are pretty injury-prone.
Others are taking the opposite approach, instead investing in their youth, teams like the Houston Rockets, who notably avoided trading for veterans this deadline because they reportedly want to see how far they can take it with their current group. Houston has $0 invested in player seasons over 35 years old and just $41.1 million invested in the 30-34 years old block. The Oklahoma City Thunder are another young team with $0 invested in players older than 35, and they are one of the favorites to win a title this year, so kudos to Sam Presti for how strong of a young roster he’s built, with so much draft capital left to play around with.
Also of note from our research, Boston has an enormous $510.6 million invested in player season between age 30 and 34 while the New York Knicks have $427.0 million in that group.
Below, check out how much money NBA teams have invested in player seasons 35 years old or older, as well as in players between 30 and 34, 25 through 29 and 25 and under.