Breaking Down Trade Pros, Cons, and Potential Scenarios for the Warriors

The Warriors have been adamant that about sticking to their “two timeline” model since the beginning of last season, when they drafted rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. It really started in 2020 when the team drafted James Wiseman at #2 overall, and was further committed to with Jordan Poole’s extension at the beginning of this season. The front office believes this can work.

And for all intents and purposes, it has. Golden State won a championship last year despite not giving up their newest young guns. Poole made a leap in the playoffs, and despite a rocky start to this season, he still has the ceiling of a star point guard as he continues to grow. Moses Moody has looked like not just a usable rotation piece, but a very solid one. Despite their setbacks and strange minutes fluctuations, Wiseman and Kuminga both have shown multiple flashes of why they can be a legit part of this team.

But the first timeline is starting to become more and more important. Stephen Curry is playing some of the best basketball of his life, putting up 32 points per game on some of the most efficient shooting he’s had since his unanimous MVP year. He’s becoming a better all-around player and frankly, has been carrying the Warriors just to keep them in close games. The starting lineup has the best net rating in the NBA and it’s not particularly close… and the team is 4-7. It has to be asked if something needs to give, so here are the pros, cons, and potential scenarios of a trade centered around solidifying the “win now” timeline.

The Pros
This one’s obvious. The Warriors have tradable assets in Wiseman and Kuminga, and possibly Moody as well. They have draft stock to sweeten any kind of deal they look to make. There are a myriad of veteran players who can help the bench that may be up for trade, and Wiseman’s contract is valuable enough to make the money work without tacking on any extra financial burden to the team, as hefty as that may already be. The biggest implication of improving the bench via trade is that the Warriors automatically become a more dangerous team: There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that if they shore up their second unit, they’ll be back to the dominant wins they’ve come to be known for over the years. They have plenty of options as well with their assets, given their plug-and-play system which can amplify the impact of even mediocre role-players.

The Cons
If you improve the team and the Warriors start blowing people out again, Steph Curry plays less 4th quarters, and tanks his MVP campaign. And we just can’t have that.

Only kind of kidding, of course.

On a serious note, the biggest impact of a trade would be effectively killing the “win later” timeline. In order for it to work, you need centerpiece players, something it’s unclear if the Warriors would have if they deal Wiseman and Kuminga. Poole’s emergence has made him fit well enough with both of the timelines, but the rest of the team will likely need to be filled in, and he’s still going to have to take a major leap to at least serviceable defensively if he’s going to be the focal point of the next generation. Wiseman and Kuminga also have a ton of potential, and it’s hard to tell if they just need some time in the G-League in order to develop. It worked well for Poole, so a similar jump in performance is entirely possible if these two guys get it together. The bottom line is that this team just needed time last season, and they ended up winning a championship: That could just as easily happen again. There’s also the issue of giving up the team’s future for one-season loaners which could have minimal impact, a concern with any developing team that’s looking to win-now hard.

Possible Trade Scenarios
So let’s say a deal is positioned to get done. What would that look like, and how could you make the money work for it? The most obvious answer is James Wiseman, whose $8 million contract can net some pretty solid return for a win-now lineup. He would have to be a central piece in any kind of trade that would make a positive impact.

The easy route is sending Wiseman and possibly draft compensation to the Spurs for center Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl is essentially a 7-foot Kevon Looney with a little more bounce, one of the league’s best offensive rebounders and shotblockers with the added benefit of being quick enough on his feet to cover perimeter players on the switch. His major downside is that he can’t shoot at all outside of the paint, including from the free throw line, which limits his ability to make an impact. Regardless, he could be a very solid second-unit center which brings strengths Wiseman still needs to grow into.

Another interesting scenario would be sending Wiseman, Kuminga, and a draft pick or two to the Utah Jazz. Utah has shown some fight early in the season and feels reminiscent of last year’s Cavaliers team in how they play. Their problem? They don’t have much of a future outside of draft picks. Being able to put young guys like that in a competitive environment where they can have a little more freedom outside of championship expectations might do them some good, and the Jazz would benefit from their development. In this situation, the Warriors could receive Stanley Johnson (who had a very solid stint with the Lakers last year as a defensive force), Walker Kessler (a polished two-year college player who can block shots without fouling and operate in the pick-and-roll on both ends) and Jared Vanderbilt. The real prize here is Vanderbilt, who started off last season on a defensive heater and was a big reason the Wolves defense looked surprisingly good. He can guard 1-4 at a height of 6’9 and wingspan at 6’11, and has enough offensive versatility to have a two-way impact. He’s also only 23 years old, so he could still fit with the long-term timeline, as could Kessler.

Conclusions
As stated earlier, the Warriors have some options, and it seems like the option they want to take currently is to stand on what they’ve been building. There’s still plenty of season left to play, but if the downward slide continues, then a trade may need to occur. There’s a legitimate opportunity to get Steph and company not just one more championship, but multiple more, and that can’t be squandered if it’s clear that things are not going to work out. You can always draft more guys for the future, but the chances you find another generational talent like the Warriors have now? Incredibly, incredibly slim.

(Photo credit: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / Associated Press)