The 2025 National Basketball Association playoffs are shaping up to be some of the most exciting series of games that we have seen in some years. In the Eastern Conference, the playoff picture is pretty concrete, with the Cleveland Cavaliers clinching the one seed. Behind the Cavs, each descending seed continually drops off in talent. The Western Conference is more hectic, as seeds three through eight in the Western Conference are all within three games of each other.
The grind to get wins in the heavily contested Western Conference may impact the health and strength of its teams.
“It’s gonna be rough for a Western Conference team to win the championship because they’re gonna have to go through a lot more games since the West is so competitive,” said junior Brandon Potter.
The Warriors are 23-7 since the addition of Jimmy Butler and have cemented themselves in the playoff picture. The Warriors have now clinched the 7th seed in the NBA playoffs and will play Houston Rockets in their first round series starting April 20. The acquisition of Jimmy Butler was the catalyst for the Warriors playoff push.
“He’s given them a spark,” said campus aid Russ Horton. “The team was just doing enough to stay relevant the first half of the season, I think Jimmy brought a new spark and a new energy to revive the season.”
How has the Jimmy Butler trade impacted the Warriors overall? As previously mentioned the Warriors are 23-7 with Butler on the floor, without Butler they are 25-28 on the year. At the time of the acquisition, many questioned how Butler would improve the Warriors team as a whole. Doubting him because of his age, floor spacing ability and how he would fit into the Warriors motion offense. Butler has actually improved the Warriors’ spacing by giving the Warriors a true low post and mid-range scoring threat.
Along with his low post-scoring, Butler has brought an increase in free-throw attempts per game.
“Butler gets to the line a lot, so that helps with foul shooting and bonuses late in games,” Potter said.
Before Butler, the Warriors were 27th in the league in free throw attempts per game, but now the Warriors are 4th in free throw attempts per game at 25.5 free throw attempts per game. Jimmy also brings another clutch playoff scorer to the Warriors’ offense. His eight 40-point playoff performances in the last half decade have earned him the nickname “Playoff Jimmy.”
Butler has brought a contagious tenacity and drive that, outside of Draymond Green, the Warriors have lacked for a couple of years.
“Look at a player like Moses Moody, who at the beginning of the season wasn’t much of an impact player for [the Warriors], but who had all the tools to be a great player,” said senior Neel Chatterjee. “When Jimmy Butler came to the team he showed him how to play with some fire.”
Players like Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski have all had spikes in production after Jimmy’s arrival.
With a recent loss to the Spurs, the Warriors, like the rest of the middle-of-the-pack Western Conference teams, are in a scramble to do all they can to stay out of the NBA play-in tournament. Luckily, the Warriors’ schedule puts them in a good position to control their own destiny in terms of seeding.
The Warriors’ last two games are against the Portland Trailblazers and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Blazers are a bottom-of-the-barrel team in the west and should give the Warriors an easy win. The Clippers are one game ahead of the Warriors and are 3-0 on the season against the Warriors, but all of those games came before the Butler trade.
The season finale for the Dubs is a must-win game for seeding.
“It’s gonna be a great game,” Horton said. “I don’t think the Warriors will get swept, especially now with Jimmy. I think it’ll be a close one, but I think that the Warriors will pull it off.”
Along with the Clippers two other teams stand in the way of the Warriors upward mobility in terms of seeding are the Nuggets and the Grizzlies, both teams that the Warriors have beat this season. Whether they end up battling Luka and LeBron, Ant and the Timberwolves, Kawhi and the Clippers, Shai and the Thunder, Jalen Green and the Rockets or Ja and the Grizzlies, the Warriors will play in a competitive first round series. Warriors fans and NBA fans in general are in for a tight and extremely entertaining playoff race this year.
