Warriors remaining aggressive to upgrade roster
Chris Mannix unpacks the latest surrounding the Warriors' trade deadline approach that, despite recent injuries, remains an "aggressive" one, while analyzing how Steph Curry falls into the equation.
Video Transcript
...well, hello from a very cold and a very frozen New York City.
Where the snow has stopped falling, but it's still piled up on the streets.
Not a great day to move around the city, but a good day to stay in.
Talk a little bit about what is coming up in the next week before the NBA trade deadline.
And today, we're gonna talk a little bit about the Golden State Warriors.
Who are in a tough position right now, given the events of the last few weeks.
Going into mid-January, Golden State was on a run.
They had won 12 of their last 16 games.
Steph Curry was playing like an MVP.
Jimmy Butler looked like an All-Star.
Things were just clicking for this team.
They had a top five offensive rating during that 16-game stretch.
And everything looked like it was working for Golden State.
And then Jimmy Butler goes down with a season-ending knee injury.
And a couple of games later, Jonathan Kuminga, who has been at the forefront of a lot of the Warriors trade talks, he suffers a knee injury of his own.
And he is out indefinitely.
So, what do the Warriors do at this point?
From what I'm told, Golden State continues to be aggressive.
In looking to find upgrades before the trade deadline.
There, there's no indication yet that Milwaukee is willing to deal Giannis Antetokounmpo.
And most likely, the Bucks are not going to deal Giannis before the trade deadline.
But from what I'm told, the Warriors have made it known that if Milwaukee gets serious about trading Giannis, they're ready to make an offer.
The package, I believe, would center around Jimmy Butler's contract.
Which has one year remaining on it, over $50 million, and Jonathan Kuminga for a headline package.
Maybe Bobby Portis gets thrown into that deal as well, to make all the money worth.
And of course, Golden State would have to throw a bunch of draft picks in to satisfy the.
The demand of Milwaukee.
So that, that's out there.
If, if, if Giannis becomes available, that's something I think that could be pushed.
By Golden State.
The other name I'm hearing connected to Golden State is Michael Porter Jr. Michael Porter Jr. Is having an outstanding season in Brooklyn.
All-Star caliber season, scoring the ball, shooting the ball.
An even better playmaker than he's been in years past.
He's a hot commodity for teams before this trade deadline.
And right now, the Brooklyn Nets' asking price is pretty high.
I'm told they're looking for multiple first-round picks in exchange for Michael.
Porter Jr. That's a price that's just too high for Golden state to pay at the moment.
There's a feeling, both in the Bay and around the league, that if the Nets don't get the kind of offer they're looking for going into the deadline, that that price could come down.
And if it does, that's a player that Golden State, I think.
Is going to prioritize before February 5th.
So those are the Warriors out there.
Looking for something.
They're trying to upgrade this roster.
Kuminga is still very available.
Look, there are deals that Golden State could make for Jonathan Kuminga.
They could flip him to Sacramento for a Malik Monk or a DeMar DeRozan, but that's the kind of deal that Golden State could summer when they were shopping Kuminga to teams.
The reality is, and Mike Dunleavy Jr., the GM in Golden State, what he said was there's not a demand right now for Jonathan Kuminga.
You might be able to move him, get a veteran player back in return, but that's not what Golden State is really hoping for.
And you have to remember, too, that the Warriors want to keep that balance sheet clean.
In 2027.
They don't want to add salary that goes beyond 2027, when a lot of big contracts come up on their books.
So, you know, Golden State will continue to look for big names.
I- look, this, this team, I- I think it's gonna come down to, at some point, a difficult conversation with Stephen Curry.
There.
Look, there's no indication that Golden State would ever move Stephen Curry.
And I've talked to executives from teams that would love to have Steph Curry.
That if he was available, they would you know, make 10 phone calls to make the first offer.
But even they tell me that they look at Steph as a legacy player.
They see him as a Dirk Nowitzki type.
A Kobe Bryant type, someone that's gonna play for one team for his entire career.
Y- but the reality is, like, you know, Steph Curry is gonna be 38 in March.
He's still playing at an All-NBA caliber level.
Next year, he could still play at an All-NBA caliber level, but, you know, to, to get, to build a contender around him over the next couple of years.
I think it's gonna be really difficult for the Warriors.
Especially, even if they keep Butler on the roster, and they're talking about how Butler could come back in mid-season at 36 years old, which Butler will be.
The start of next year, it's difficult for a player that age to, to bounce back from this type of injury, at least the first season after.
He suffered it.
So, I, I think there's gonna have to be a difficult conversation with Steph, where they they say to him, like, "Look, we, we wanna re-sign you, multi-year deal."
all that.
But here's our situation.
You know, we- it's hard- it's gonna be hard for us to build a contender around you over the next couple of years."
It's just the, the, the simple math of it and the way the contracts are set up, it's gonna be difficult for them to build that kind of winner.
Especially in a conference where the teams at the top, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, even Denver, are going to be just as good or better.
In the years to come.
So that, that may be a tough conversation that they have with, with Steph this summer.
But right now, The Warriors are trying.
They're out there looking to, you know, add a piece or two to this equation, add another scorer to the mix, add somebody that fits opposite of Steph Curry to see if they can find some magic at the trade deadline this season, like they did just before last season.
