Good news: Golden State Warriors will allegedly field calls for three stars before the NBA trade deadline
The struggling Golden State Warriors enter this week’s NBA action with a disastrous 19-24 record and as the 12th seed in the Western Conference.
Golden State is not anywhere near a top-end title contender in the Western Conference. Heck, Steve Kerr’s squad could very well struggle making it into the NBA Play-In Tournament.
This has led to widespread rumors that Golden State could look to blow it up ahead next week’s NBA trade deadline. We now have more information on this courtesy of The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The report is eye-opening.
It does seem as if everyone outside of Stephen Curry and potentially Jonathan Kuminga could be available over the next week or so. Whether anything comes to fruition on this end remains to be seen.
Of the three names Charania mentioned, Paul seems to make the most sense as trade bait. The 38-year-old veteran is practically playing under an expiring contract. His $30 million salary for next season is non-guaranteed, making the contract pretty darn valuable in the process.
Paul is not the player he was earlier in his career. He offers very little on-court value. Instead, it’s all about the contract and how another team could move off a long-term deal to save money moving forward. The Chicago Bulls seem to be a potential fit with Zach LaVine already being linked to Golden State.
Additions and subtractions for the Golden State Warriors ahead of NBA trade deadline
There is a real scenario that suggests the Warriors retool behind Curry rather than rebuild. Moving off either Paul or Wiggins could make sense in this regard.
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Trade rumors update: Warriors will test market for Chris Paul, Wiggins
We are just more than a week away from the trade deadline and the NBA world is buzzing — as much with smoke and misdirection as real trade talk. Here’s some of the latest buzz from around the NBA.
This is not surprising news, but with the Warriors struggling and more than one trade away from contending, questions about their next move have been raised. The Warriors will test the trade market for Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins — and even Klay Thompson is not off the table, The Athletic’s Shams Charania said on FanDuel’s Run It Back.
That feels like a leak targeting the Golden State fan base, showing management is trying, when in reality very little likely comes of it. The Warriors were always going to test the market with CP3, who is making $30.8 million this season on an expiring contract (he has a $30 million team option for next season nobody will pick up). The hope in Golden State was that contract plus a pick could get the Warriors a better wing player or fit to help put them over the top, except that player is not really available (unless you are a huge Zach LaVine fan).
The Warriors need wing help because of the disappointing, inconsistent play of Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson this season, which is why the team will listen to offers for both. It’s also unlikely either is traded.
Thompson makes $43.2 million on an expiring contract and he and the Warriors have not been able to reach terms on an extension. How much would a team really give up to rent him (even if they wanted his Bird rights to re-sign him)? Not much.
Wiggins is making $24.3 million in the first year of a four-year extension, which might interest teams that think they can turn his play around and get back closer to the level he was at when he was the second-best player on the team in its 2022 championship run. However, teams are not going to give up much of quality to the Warriors to take on that risk. Golden State would need to throw in sweeteners.
The questions the Warriors face are bigger: What do they want to do next? Curry is still a top-10 player in the league but little else on this roster says contender. This season has felt like the end of the dynasty era, and if they want to revive that around Curry it is not a one or even two trade thing — the Warriors would need a serious roster revamp. Or, do they re-sign Thompson to go with Green and Curry under contract, and ride this out as far as it will go? That kind of big question rarely gets answered at the deadline.
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