Will the Kevin Durant trade to Suns force the Warriors to make a big deadline splash?
Pressure is on Golden State Warriors to make a trade if it's there
The Western Conference was wide open. So a disappointing season thus far for the defending champions could at least be salvaged by their competitors’ mediocrity.
That’s all changed over the last 72 hours. Now the Warriors have to get their feet off the table and act.
Just as the Warriors were wrapping up another ugly road loss, news broke that the Brooklyn Nets traded Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, the centerpiece in a blockbuster deal that joins the superstar with Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton in a presumed starting lineup.
Hours earlier, the Los Angeles Lakers gave up a first-round pick and Russell Westbrook as part of a three-team trade with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves that netted them guard D’Angelo Russell and wings Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. The deal sent point guard Mike Conley Jr. and picks to the contending Timberwolves, too.
Days ago, the Dallas Mavericks threw in their chips — Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, a future first-round pick — for mercurial guard Kyrie Irving to form with Luka Dončić one of the most formidable-looking backcourts in the NBA.
Teams are making moves that could not only unclog the jammed conference, but re-define who might emerge this spring as playoff favorites. The Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies have held down the top seeds all season, but the Suns, Mavericks, and Lakers — at least — are looking best poised to pull ahead and even lap the stragglers.
Where does this leave Golden State?
If the Warriors don’t make a trade before the noon deadline on Thursday, they could easily fall behind. Make no mistake, the Warriors’ brass feels the urgency to capitalize on the waning years of Steph Curry’s prime, so this trade deadline madness might inspire a leap of faith sooner than later.
Publicly, general manager Bob Myers has always tempered trade deadline expectations to say that a trade for the sake of trading would be a worst-case scenario. There have been reports that the Warriors might trade one or package James Wiseman and Moses Moody; since both have been essentially benched this year, they might not get the return that moves the needle.
If the Warriors want to match their conference foes’ moves, they’ll have to dip way deeper into their asset bag. In a trade for Toronto Raptors’ OG Anunoby — a strong defender who can take on the Durants and Dončićs of the conference — they’ll most likely having to give up some combination of a future first-round pick and Jonathan Kuminga. Those are two precious assets that should (though might not) be on the table now.
Plus, there’s competition: Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans are among teams reportedly interested in a trade for Anunoby.
Or do the Warriors give up one of those assets to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso, though not a perfect fit as a guard, still an elite point-of-attack defender and 3-point threat that would be just the high-level role player to widen Golden State’s razor thin margin for error.
The optics of a smaller move might be embarrassing after all the blockbuster moves, but the Warriors could swing a smaller-scale trade for Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle. Another top tier point-of-attack defender whose minutes could depend on his offensive development — much like Gary Payton II last season. Thybulle could be a worthy prospect project at 6-foot5, age 25, and a restricted free agent in the offseason.
The Warriors are 28-27, sitting ninth in the conference but a game-and-a-half back of the fourth seed. A legitimate run at another title is conceivable. Beyond that, Curry, Green and Thompson proved last year and this year that they have plenty more to give. Now’s the time to see how much the front office will sacrifice back for them.