The Golden State Warriors will enter the 2026 NBA offseason searching for ways to give Stephen Curry a chance to compete for a championship during his twilight years. Coming off a season in which the Warriors went 37-45 and lost in the Play-In Tournament, not much on the roster is set in stone.
Thankfully, a potential trade target has emerged after the Phoenix Suns bowed out of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs: Devin Booker.
Booker has spent his entire 11-year NBA career with the Suns. During that time, he’s made it to the NBA Finals, helped Phoenix win 64 games in a single spectacular regular season, and played a commendable 51 playoff games.
For as impressive as that all may be, the Suns haven’t won a playoff series since 2022 and have now been swept out of the first round of the playoffs in two of the past three seasons. To make matters worse, Phoenix missed the playoffs during the only season of that three-year stretch that they weren’t swept out of the first round. Furthermore, Booker has played for four different head coaches over the past four seasons.
Jordan Ott appears to be a long-term answer at head coach, but if Booker is looking for a change this coming summer, the Warriors could capitalize by completing a trade for him.
Another Round 1 sweep could convince Devin Booker to request a trade
Booker, 29, represents much of what’s missing from the Warriors’ roster. He’s a star-caliber player and scorer in the prime of his career, as well as a proven playmaker who can offer a dynamic source of creation for both himself and others.
Booker is also a trustworthy postseason player in the sense that he has a career playoff average of 27.5 points per game and has been a part of a run to the NBA Finals.
With Booker and Curry, the Warriors would have a backcourt that could compete with just about any duo in the NBA. Defensive questions would need to be answered, but offensively, Booker could alleviate a great deal of pressure from the 38-year-old Curry. That alone offers reason to consider going all-in on a trade of this nature, particularly when one considers that Booker has thrived alongside an aging star-caliber point guard in the past in Chris Paul.
The synergy feels almost poetic. Curry’s off-ball movement and elite shooting would create endless space for Booker’s mid-range mastery and scoring bursts, while Booker’s on-ball creation would keep defenses honest and allow Curry to conserve energy for the moments that matter most in the playoffs. In an era where backcourt partnerships define contenders, this duo would instantly rank among the league’s most dangerous.
The questions facing the Warriors in regard to this deal are simple: Is Booker worth significant NBA Draft compensation and would the Suns take Jimmy Butler’s contract back? Barring an unexpected development, Butler’s expiring deal would be essential to matching Booker’s $57,078,728 salary for the 2026-27 season.
If the Suns are open to moving on from their longtime franchise face after yet another early exit, the financial framework could align more cleanly than many realize. Golden State has pieces that could appeal to a Suns team in transition, and the presence of an expiring high-salary contract like Butler’s provides a critical matching mechanism without forcing the Warriors to gut their core young talent entirely.
While draft capital would undoubtedly be part of any serious package, the urgency to maximize Curry’s remaining prime years shifts the calculus. This isn’t about building for the distant future; it’s about constructing a legitimate title window right now.
If Booker is looking for a fresh start as he approaches his 30s and completes his 11th season in Phoenix, however, the Warriors must at least kick the tires on a potential trade.
The broader NBA landscape is shifting rapidly. Young, athletic teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder are dominating the West with pace, length, and depth—qualities that have exposed the Suns’ limitations once again in a 4-0 first-round sweep. For Golden State, clinging to incremental tweaks around an aging roster risks wasting Curry’s final elite seasons. A bold swing for a player of Booker’s caliber represents the kind of decisive, forward-thinking move that championship organizations make.
Critics will point to defensive concerns and the cost in assets, and those are valid points worth serious internal debate. Booker isn’t a lockdown defender, and the Warriors would still need to address perimeter defense and frontcourt toughness. Yet the offensive upside—pairing two of the league’s most skilled scorers and creators—could overwhelm those shortcomings in a playoff series, especially if the supporting cast is constructed intelligently around them.
Everybody seems focused on incremental roster tweaks, veteran minimum signings, or hoping for internal development. They’re looking the wrong way. The real lifeline to extend Stephen Curry’s championship era is sitting in Phoenix, frustrated by another early exit and potentially ready for a new chapter. The door is open, and the Warriors cannot afford to let it close without knocking.
The 2026 offseason will define the final act of the Curry era. A pursuit of Devin Booker, however challenging, might just be the move that keeps the lights on at Chase Center for one more deep playoff run.