If the Western Conference playoffs have proved anything, it’s that even if the Warriors were able to make it past the play-in, they would not be ready for any series they would have faced.

To say the West is anyone’s to win these days would be an understatement. The defending champion Denver Nuggets returned largely the same roster besides two role players from last year’s title team, and were beaten by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round after sweeping the Lakers. The Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Pelicans in the first round, before they ran into Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks who beat them in 6 games like the Clippers before them.

All of these teams were better than the Warriors in retrospect. So if they want to stay competitive when there could be as many as 12 or 13 teams vying for playoff spots next season, there’s going to have to be improvements, and potentially drastic ones.

Golden State seems to have a few holes they need to patch in terms of roster construction specifically, but no team can really be perfect so they have to focus on the bottom line of what they lack: Secondary shot creation and players consistent enough to be mainstays in the rotation. It’d be nice to get back some size and defensive versatility as well, although Trayce Jackson-Davis moving to the starting rotation to backline Draymond Green seemed to work well enough to improve the squad’s defensive rating late in the season.

The biggest barrier to fielding players which can fill those gaps is that the Warriors aren’t exactly flexible with their salary numbers, and beyond punting their recent draftees, aren’t really asset-rich either. Any team who’d be willing to trade with them has to either really want out of a certain contract for whatever reason, and the Warriors would have to be willing to pay up for them to take it since there’s teams with better offers almost everywhere; or they’d have to clear cap space in order to sign a guy off the free agent market, which isn’t all that doable in a free agent class which is thin anyway. There are a few names which come to mind that could fit the first scenario at least, so we’ll take a look at a few players who could provide some immediate benefit even with these costs in mind.

1) Nic Claxton, Brooklyn Nets
Claxton’s name has been in the rumor mill recently given he’s about to be an unrestricted free agent. While reports indicate there’s mutual interest in getting a deal done to bring him back to Brooklyn, the Nets’ future is a bit up-in-the-air considering their only contracts past next season are Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. Both of those guys have been in the league longer than Claxton and would be immediately helpful on a ton of current contenders, so the chance for the center to compete could take more time and patience than an emerging impact guy is willing to give.

Towards the end of last season, a rookie in Jackson-Davis took over the starting center role from Kevon Looney, and the Warriors’ big rotation is thin enough that Claxton could come in and take the spot next. The problem is that he’s going to command around $20-$25 million on the free agent market, meaning a contract (likely Wiggins) and assets (possibly Moody or Kuminga) will have to be moved for him, and it’d probably have to be via a sign-and-trade. It’s a difficult spot to be in, but Claxton provides a defensive paint presence which allows Draymond Green to stay in his ideal role as a roamer while giving the Warriors an improvement on the shot-blocking which Jackson-Davis provided, shoring up the bench defense with TJD’s presence while also giving the Warriors’ their first 7-foot paint anchor since Andrew Bogut. The Nets will need assets, but if Claxton does want out, this is likely the least-costly move to be made while still getting better.

2) Dejounte Murray, Atlanta Hawks
Murray’s name was everywhere at this year’s trade deadline, and enough of the chatter was in connection to Golden State that’d imply there were discussions beyond due diligence. His is a bit of an interesting case because it’s not yet clear whether the Hawks are going to stick to their guns with Trae Young, or deal him and build around Murray (who’s under contract until the 2027-28 season where he has a player option). The sentiment is largely that the two players are too ball-dominant to play together, and on top of that, Atlanta’s roster construction is relatively lacking in wings outside of Jalen Johnson (who just emerged about halfway through this season offensively with room to improve on the other end). The Eastern Conference is weak enough that the Hawks could run it back and find some success, but trading one of their top guards could net them a return that makes them more complete and competitive.

Enter the Warriors, who have a near-identical contract to Murray’s in terms of value in Andrew Wiggins. The Hawks have the number 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, and the top of the board largely includes enough centers that they’ve started to make it clear Clint Capela is also available. If the Warriors are looking to shore up what are likely their two biggest areas of need, Murray and Capela are an intriguing enough duo to make that happen. Stephen Curry’s versatile skills mean Murray’s on-ball dominance won’t be as stifled as it was with Young, while also giving him some room to breathe and get into rhythm defensively whenever he can’t get it going because of how the offense flows around Steph. Capela’s a lob threat and decent rim protector who Golden State is familiar with from his Houston Rockets days in the late 2010s, the type of player who could be useful for the one more year he has on his contract just to give TJD some more time to grow while providing veteran experience.

This deal only works if Wiggins is traded, the Hawks (or a third party) are willing to take on Chris Paul’s expiring deal, and the Hawks are willing to take Moses Moody and another player not named Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski, who figure to be important rotation pieces next season with another year of experience under their belts. Regardless, it’s hard to imagine a world where an all-star with former all-defense accolades doesn’t make them better, in addition to adding some size which they haven’t had. If the Warriors don’t want to take Capela and are still looking for frontcourt help, then it’d be worth inquiring about De’Andre Hunter as well, who’s a shaky shooter but was drafted into the NBA for his defensive capabilities. If Hunter’s involved, however, that likely means Kuminga’s gone given how Atlanta seems to value the 5th-year forward’s skillset.

3) Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans
Here’s an interesting scenario: An 8th seed without a true point guard takes on an experienced veteran who started his career with their franchise, while adding more defensive talent on the wings and getting rid of a player they think doesn’t fit with their current franchise cornerstone at the end of his contract. The Pelicans might be punting on this team too quickly given their sweep at the hands of OKC was without Zion Williamson, but CJ McCollum just doesn’t provide a real floor general for the team he’s the starting point guard of. He still has some good years as a scorer to soften a potential blow from losing Brandon Ingram, but CP3 helps the Pelicans in a tangible way, and Andrew Wiggins can give them additional defensive help on the wings while being more plug-and-play than BI currently is in their offense, freeing up touches for other players. The Pels get good value out of an expiring deal, and improve on the margins where they seem the most vulnerable.

For the Warriors, this is a bit of a risk, even if a necessary one. Ingram, as mentioned, is on the last year of his current contract before hitting unrestricted free agency. While moving Paul and Wiggins is the best way to make this trade work without losing too much and would return a player that immediately addresses the team’s secondary shot creation issues while showing a steady improvement on defense year-to-year, New Orleans’ leverage that Golden State is desperate to improve in the waning years of the Curry era could end up costing the Dubs a young player that could be used in another trade somewhere else, or figures to be part of the rotation next season (Moody or Kuminga). The Pelicans roster has additional players that the Warriors could make use of, which would assuredly cost them one of those young guns, but also raises a question of just how much better the team gets from a trade like this where they lose depth in exchange for a scoring punch and whatever else New Orleans can offer.

Trading for Ingram also most likely means Klay Thompson is gone in order to make the money work and potentially keep BI for longer with an extension. With a few other trades they could make, keeping Klay around for what would be a “do right by him” amount of money is a lot more doable, but in the case of Ingram and potentially another player, his camp’s asking price may not be feasible in order to improve the roster’s weak points while extending Thompson. At the very least, they’d have to clear up more cap space, probably with Kevon Looney’s contract even though he’s been helpful in certain situations.

With any of these trades, they won’t address every problem the Warriors have because of how much money is currently tied to the team’s core players. The new CBA rules make it even harder for Golden State to take viable action since they’re constricted by the luxury tax, and veterans don’t see them as a destination to go ring-chasing since there’s just better teams which they can do that for.

Trying to find a fix-all trade most likely isn’t the best solution, but multiple deals with both trades and free agency are harder to come by for a franchise that has so little room to navigate. The Warriors have gotten generally lucky with unique contract situations (Steph Curry’s contract during his MVP seasons was one which he had to take less money on because of his ankle injuries) and large cap spikes during the dynasty years (even if they were products of the Warriors’ drawing more viewers to the NBA), and now they’re facing situations where the aftereffects of their success are making it harder to keep the ball rolling.

If Golden State is going to improve, it’ll take some craft and plenty of guts from Mike Dunleavy Jr., forced to make hard decisions about the important contributors who still remain from the team’s best years while also having to find diamonds in the rough that can maybe use the Dubs as opportunities to revitalize their value in a system that can also make them better. The end of the line is looming for them, but the Warriors should be willing to put all their chips on the table in a gamble to get better and make the last few years of Steph Curry’s brilliance worth it, if for no other reason than doing right by the player who changed the franchise - and the NBA - forever.

(Photo credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)