Warriors forward Draymond Green spoke out last month against the idea of “mortgaging off the future” of the team in order to try to win now, telling reporters that’s the sort of thing that “bad organizations” do. However, on Monday, with the February 6 trade deadline just days away, Green said in a post-game media session that he knows team owner Joe Lacob will be eager to try to upgrade a team with an uninspiring 25-24 record.
“We all know he’s pissed sitting at .500,” Green said (Twitter video link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic). “You’d be a fool to sit back and think everything (is OK). Not with that guy. That guy’s always trying to win. He’s always pushing the envelope as much as he can.
“… Sitting at .500, you’ve got to expect that (the front office) is going to look to be aggressive. It’s not an organization that’s going to do anything dumb, but they’re going to look to be aggressive.”
Reporting on Monday linked the Warriors to starry targets like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, with Shams Charania stating during an ESPN appearance that Golden State is “legitimately calling about every All-Star player.” After seeing what went down in Dallas over the weekend, Green suggests it would be irresponsible not to make those calls.
“Luka Doncic just got traded, so everyone thinks everything is possible at this point,” Green said. “If you saw that and you didn’t call (on) every superstar, you’re crazy. That’s just the reality.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported on Sunday that Jimmy Butler trade talks between the Warriors and Heat had “ended for now” after the 35-year-old conveyed that he wasn’t interested in signing an extension with Golden State. However, it doesn’t appear that the idea of Butler landing in the Bay Area is dead. Anthony Slater of The Athletic says the Warriors “believe they are still firmly in the mix” for Butler, while Windhorst himself wrote today at ESPN.com that Golden State remains a possibility for the star forward if the Heat can’t figure out how to make a deal work with the Suns, Butler’s preferred destination.
- If the Suns are unable to acquire Butler, it could impact the Warriors on two fronts. Not only would it make Golden State a more viable landing spot for Butler, but it could make Phoenix more inclined to consider the idea of moving Durant, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com, who says (via Twitter) that some rival executives believes that’s a real possibility.
- According to Slater, it’s still unclear whether the Suns would really move Durant this week or if he would even welcome a reunion with the Warriors. However, Slater notes that Lacob and Durant’s longtime manager Rich Kleiman were seen chatting during Friday’s Suns/Warriors game and were spotted together at Chase Center’s Bridge Club at halftime and after the game.
The news over the past two days is that the Dubs really have been pursuing Butler. Hard.
That bullet is still in flight, and I’m betting it will be until the last day of this window, when the last and best offers come due (which, for the Dubs, likely includes Schroeder.)
As long as Green is the center piece of the trade for Butler. I find Wiggins is better than Butler so they better not trade him. The way Curry been playing this year there should be none of that we most win for Curry. He is the reason they lost a few games this year he has been that bad. Please let Buddy be part of any going out money in a trade.
The way the team played defense with him back you need Green too. Wiggins is better than Butler on his contract where I would want picks coming this way if he is going out with expirings.
I rather keep Wiggins than Butler or many other all stars that are old.
DS literally cant be traded until the day before the deadline.
So one day a reporter says Warriors are close to a deal and the next day they say they are out of a deal. Its just click bait articles by many of these reporters. Addition by subtraction doesn’t make the Warriors better but worse.
arc89 ,
The media in this case is an instrument of the agents and the teams in their negotiations, and we pay the media with our attention. We’re all willing participants.
The reports are always careful to say “at least, for now”. That means it ain’t over until it’s over. And here we all are, including you and me, back for more.
What i don’t understand is why the warriors would trade for George or Butler? There is no upside to either trade and puts the warriors in a worse position. I understand they would want KD but why would the Suns trade him? Suns best player is KD.
Its also something where the leaks come from different people in the FO who have different views on situations so the responses may be clouded by the fact theyre one of the people pushing for a certain move. Its rarely the GM leaking this stuff so take it all with a grain of salt.
ChapmansVacuum, good post. Grain of salt, indeed. 2 things that I’ve learned leak about leaking, especially where the Warriors are concerned:
1. Employees of professional sports teams, including GM’s, have STRICT confidentiality agreements that prohibit disclosing to outsiders and media about things like prospective personnel moves. Penalties for violation are extremely punitive, including being sued by the team itself. Bob Myers often alluded to legal restrictions on his ability to tell the media more than he was able. Anyway, it’s not that leaks from teams don’t happen, but it’s not as common as fans assume. (Agents are the big leakers, but that’s another discussion.)
2. In the case of the Warriors, one person, who is not an employee, acts as if legally unfettered: Joe Lacob. And, he routinely uses Kawakami and Slater (and, maybe others). If there are “leaks”, he’s likely behind them. And, like you say, take them with a grain of salt.
There are NBA CBA restrictions on what teams can say. Its the players who are more unfettered. The teams may have agreements on disclosing internal proprietary information, but a GM using a leak at their own discretion in an attempt to leverage a situation for the teams benefit is pretty inside the lines for them.
I think it was Slater a while back or Zach Lowe that mentioned how these rumors come from assistant coaches and stat guys and all sorts of other people they have relationships with. So sometimes its what that persons hearing from internal discussions, or just the move they are personally pushing for the team to do. Some leaks are also from the player agents based on discussions that the team had with either the player or the agent.
Lacob in particular does seem to have a friendly relationship with a number of the main press people covering the team.
Chapman,
I was responding to you saying that ”leaks come from different people in the FO”, not to whether agents leak (they do). I don’t believe your picture of how FO’s work is accurate. Yes, a GM or owner may leak, but not “multiple” parties within the same FO “with different agendas”. It’s too dangerous for those individuals.
As to where reporters get “leaks”, any respected beat reporter (i.e. Kawakami or Slater or Monte Poole) will tell you that they will NEVER seek confidential information through team employees that aren’t permitted to disclose it. That could not only endanger the careers of those employees, but it would breach the privileged relationship they have with the permitted team sources. That’s how these guys can credibly use terms like “team sources” and “off the record”.
You’d have to show me exactly where Slater or Zach Lowe say they get privileged information from internal employees or by overhearing non-public employee discussions. Maybe it was somebody else?
Its like they arent technically supposed to leak but the team isnt going after them. It would be different if you were giving scouting reports to opponents. I forget it was a few years ago at least where writers have lots of team sources and an expectation of confidentiality on sources.
Trading almost every younger piece and draftpicks for someone like James or Durant will not put the warriors anywhere. One last hooray for years of tanking hell?
Sometimes I really can´t understand what managers think. Offering everything for some 35 year old Kevin Durant or – god beware – Paul George, who never was a true superstar and can´t stay healthy at this point of his career?
You only do that if you think you have a 50/50 chance to win a title this year or next year.
The best for the warriors would be to get Butler when the Heat get desperate to move him.
Even getting Butler will do no good. Trading spare parts the warriors have in Schroder, Anderson Hield, and TJD would be the best thing they can do. Even if it means stocking up on draft picks.
I mean I think Anderson could be good, but I would like seeing Hield gone, and Anderson too if they arent going to pay him since they could sign a couple players with exceptions this summer if you lose the long term money on the two
*going to play
I mean … you are going to face tanking hell regardless unless they can sign or trade for a young superstar like Luka. Steph is still a very good 1B/2 and still draws double teams consistently. Lebron or KD would absolutely feast on those 4v3’s if it was a series.
lakers are not trading LeBron and the Suns are not trading KD. So it doesn’t even matter.
despoo,
About “tanking hell”… keep in mind that the Warriors believe they believe they have a “young core” in Kuminga (22), Podz (21), Moody (22), and TJD (24). It may not feel like enough of a young core, but this is what you hope for AFTER tanking for 2 years, not before.
One way to accelerate a rebuild is to trade all current roster assets other than the young core and Steph for a YOUNG star like (if he’s healty) Zion Williamson or Lamelo Ball. That would give GSW a great place to start after Steph and his ($70M contract) are gone 27 months from now.
I mean Kuminga and Podz and maybe Post have starter upside. Mostly they have a number of guys that project as solid role players. They would need to either tank/trade/or sign a legit star or two depending on how close Kuminga gets to a 1 or 2.
Chapman, agree with your take, let’s flesh it out.
FO projects for 1st season post-Steph, 2027-28:
SIGNED:
– Kuminga SF/PF 24 yrs
– Podz PG/SG 24 yrs
– Post/TJD C 26 yrs
– Moody rotation wing 24 yrs
OPEN SLOTS:
– $70M/yr slot (Steph’s)
– $28M/yr slot (Draymond’s)
– $30M/yr slot (Wiggins)
Those slots wont be open if they extend a bunch of players before and are deep in the tax it will simply be tax relief. The nuts one would be knowing Steph is for sure retiring to trade him after the finals before the end of the league year as an expiring contract for matching salary since he would just file his paperwork after the clock switched a week later.
Chapman, as a thought experiment, consider a scenario where the Warriors determine that they can’t contend this season nor the next season with their current roster. As in, acquiring Jimmy Butler simply doesn’t improve the team enough to get beyond the first round of the playoffs. (Put the possibility of KD aside.)
In this scenario, trading young players and FRP’s for Butler or another aging star now only makes the post-Steph era beginning in 2027-2028 (assuming Steph retires and/or declines signficantly) more difficult — as in, 20 wins per year for a while.
What would be the rationale for not trading Draymond and Steph ASAP for draft capital and young talent? Are we content with a best case scenario of losing in the playoffs in the first round for Steph’s last 3 seasons?
Curious what you think.
“Anybody not named Steph or Dray or Moody for Butler and Vucevic.” #strengthInNumbers
Strength in numbers died when Melton left the rotations. I dont understand why anyone would hold another person to their opinion of one iteration of the roster after that roster changed? Truly low IQ behavior. Doesn’t make any points on here, or is worth reading, so everyone report TallBaller for making this place much worse by focusing on me and never once actually talking NBA, breaking TOS in doing so. 100% of TallBaller posts are about me, I’m not in the NBA. This is breaking TOS. This is harassment and bullying and it sucks to read. I hope mods are looking at his posts and seeing 100% of them are about me and then they ban this likely 9 year old clown who has me living rent free in his mind. TallBaller should be banned from this site, straight up.
If you have a problem with somebody just mute them instead of letting them ruin your day. I muted klay fan last week that only attacked every comment I made. When they go out of their way to attack you just mute instead of argue.
I already have muted them, but I look at threads on my phone where I am not logged in and see they are STILL at it! It just sucks they are not letting up. Like, in every thread he’s there, letting everyone know about my November opinion on the full strength with Melton, 12-3 Warriors, but it’s February now, who cares? My opinion has OBVIOUSLY changed due to Melton being off the team and then like 6 players getting injured including Curry? Duhh? The fact they are ignoring this means he is here primarily to troll me, and that breaks TOS on harassment.
Arent you here to troll everybody though? You think we enjoy your copium takes that when we try to make a conversation with you, youd say we dont know ball? What youre getting is an eye for an eye. You do better and youll be treated better.
So if you mute somebody, but then you can see them on your phone…
That means you sign in with another account on your phone…
What are the other user names that you use?
No Gary. I do not sign in on my phone. You can look at the app while not signed in. When I am signed in, my mutes work. When I sign out, I can see every comment.
I only have 1 account on here.
You can look at the comments, but you can’t make comments because you’re not signed in. OK makes sense.
I am signed in on my laptop, I am not signed in on the app on my phone. My laptop has accounts muted, my phone does not. I do not make comments while using my phone, only on laptop.
Make sense now?
Yes, but I only use the phone and I only use the website.
I don’t like using the app. But there is occasion when I’ll open the app to see if the guy is responding to me or someone above me. That part you can’t see on the website.
But, I do get to give out all my thumbs up on the website so I like that. Many many great posters here.
I do all my posting on the laptop. I look at the app when Im out and about for news-only. I am definitely an outside-enjoyer, unlike some posters on here, haha
Got’em
That wasnt your only bad opinion ;P
> Strength in numbers died when Melton left the rotations.
There is a lot of revisionist history here with how much losing DeAnthony Melton had hurt us. Melton fit in well, but the truth is that he barely played, and the results were not uniformly great, as some suggest.
Melton played in only 6 games for GSW, for only 121 minutes in total. He started 3 games. His numbers were 37% from 3, 40% from field, 10 ppg, 1.4 assist/turnover. Over the first 12 games, we were 6-0 without Melton, 4-2 with him.
The fact is that GSW was rolling back then, with or without Melton. We had beaten Boston without Melton before his 2 good games against OKC and Dallas. Buddy Hield was shooting 47% from deep, and Steph was at his peak. Both Hield and Steph have since fallen off dramatically.
Why Butler wouldn’t sign an extension with dubs is mind boggling to me. I can understand he doesn’t wanna be in Memphis but why not the Bay?
Yeah that makes no sense until you remember all the superstars hate Steve Kerr.
Because this is Steph Curry show, and he quietly leads this team through example. No room for prima donna’s.
They want him to tear up his option and resign for less per over more years similar to Middleton a couple years ago. They have I think talked to his reps and told them hey we think 2-3 at 30M per or something and he wants the full 3 year max that is the most hes eligible for. He seems entirely motivated by money which is why PHX is his only choice since they will max him.
Yes, chap that’s a better longer answer.
How is it about you? You affected much? I never even mentioned your name. So youre saying I cant express my thoughts about trading anybody not named Steph or Dray or Moody for Butler and Vucevic? I thought youve muted me already? How come you are still reading my posts?
Going back to topic. Getting both of them will make the Warriors top 4 in the west. It will turn the season around. Moody, Post and Santos are the future of the Dubs.
If you watched the Warriors/Magic game last night, you saw a GSW W but, once again, they blew a massive lead and barely scraped by. This is what happens when Andrew Wiggins is your #2 player behind Curry. Almost every game during the last month has been shoving this point down all our throats: this team cannot exist like this with Andrew Wiggins as the #2 player behind Curry. They need a proper star behind 30, not some overpaid nepo baby who has underperformed every season of his career except 1.
You all wanna do callbacks – “Maple Jordan” they called him…more like Maple “Not better than Harrison Barnes”!
They blew the lead because they are old and can’t keep up the pace. That is why they should not trade for any older star over 30. Warriors need to get younger. Look how its been the young players pacing the warriors to a win.
I don’t disagree that GSW should prioritize youth, but again, Kerr playing Moody, Podz, GP2 and Steph in the same lineup in the second half is why they got cooked imo.
Imo KD and Giannis still have 3+ years of #2 or #1 production left, as does Curry. I would not go after Jimmy Butler unless he was extremely cheap or basically free, which is impossible because Wiggins, Dray, Steph and Jimmy cant all fit under the cap without the rest of the team being 10day contract-level talents.
Playing GP2 and Green in the same lineup is a mistake because both are not offensive players. They hurt you in the other 3 must score. With Buddy shooting so poorly that leaves you 2 players on offense so the other team can double team Curry with no problem. Notice how Payton and Green is not guarded very closely.
Exactly. After last night, I am done with Wiggins, Buddy and GP2. All should be way better offensively than they are. We can upgrade them all really easily. At least Podz is slightly improving his offensive profile, GP2 is getting worse, he’s only good for dunks now, and Wiggins only tries for 1 quarter a game. GSW had 4 stretches of 4+ minutes without scoring last night, FOUR! This is 100% because of GP2 being a black hole offensively and Wiggs and Buddy no buckets not doing their jobs.
I mean I think if Hield sees no min the team does better. He hasnt shot anything from 3 in like 10 weeks now. His defense is bad enough on its own, but he constantly gets beat and then does the try hard foul where he tries to make it look like he was trying but instead just gives them an and 1. That dude has caused more and 1s than any other player on the team and I would bet quite a bit on that.
GPII is a good screener and cutter. Dray creates stops and gets the team in transition, facilitates for others, and is by far the best decision maker to give the ball too if Steph is being doubled since his 3 is improved and he can drive and score or drive and kick in the 4 on 3 situations.
Toronto gets Wiggins & Kyle Anderson
Lakers get Bruce Brown, Jakob Poeltl & Schroeder
Warriors get LeBron
If LeBron doesn’t want curry over the overlapping skilled Luka, he’s not about winning anymore.
In this case, Warriors should pursue the same deal template for Durant or butler
Love it, but Bronny is going with Bron though, right?
I think obviously GSW are going to make a run at Giannis in the offseason, so I don’t foresee them trading Kuminga, Moody or Podz until then, but everyone else is on the table, and deals like this one, could easily happen.
LeBron has a no trade clause so he is not leaving Lakers,
I mean Luka isnt even going to play till days after the deadline so he wont even get a look at it until trades are done till summer. On top of that his people already made the public statement that he wouldnt be traded.
Come summer if Luka gets another calf strain and the team misses the post season because of it I could see him moving since I think he wants the pomp and circumstance of an announced final season where everyone rolls out the red carpet in each town and he wouldnt want to go out missing the play in lets say if the team has bad injury luck down the stretch…
Warriors and Lakers both were fortunate to win their last title. Things went their way. And they took advantage as they should have. The NBA is not the NFL. You dont reload every yr. It takes yrs to rebuild or retool. Plus draft smart and develop talent right. Remember everyone is drafting 19 yr olds today.
Lakers would be smart to move Bron now. Get what you can. And Warriors should have moved Green at draft. Cause hes not worth much now.
Just two old teams . Having trouble moving on.
NBA changes fast and all teams get old after winning for a decade. That is natural. The problem is the media keep on saying the warriors need to make a trade to help Curry. Curry is looking old this year too. So let a team start the rebuild and get younger instead of some media personalities can’t let go of the past. No trade is going to make the warriors a champion again there are too many holes on the team.
I dont think he has been close to full health most of the year. Now I dont know if that is because of the olympics and a random nagging knee injury, or if this is just a knee problem he will have to manage the rest of his career.
You would think that he would age well since so much of his game is predicated on running a marathon in the game and distance running is an old mans game where sprinting and leaping are for the young. It will effect his ability to get downhill if his burst is falling off. He sort of no jumps on his jumper so elevation is less important for him, and he never plays above the rim.
“Curry is looking old this year” nope. He’s looking injured. He is obviously playing through multiple injuries, he does this every time he gets hurt, he turns into cardio, pass-first Curry. It does, however, look like he is coming good, shot-wise…wish I could say the same about Buddy, who is now useless.
Curry, Green, Kuminga, Moody, Post, Santos, Podz, TJD. Its a nice core of youth, the “rebuild” is almost finished, its just getting the right guys around the top 3. Kerr should be fired because he only knows Curry-ball and small ball. Why does he keep going for these no-defense small ball lineups? No one knows. It doesn’t work anymore, its a low percentage play. Kerr needs to be fired for not adjusting.
All those young players only make GS a late lotto team once curry and dray are gone. A nice bench, but bad starters.
That’s exactly how it is. Old guy is playing well and then injuries catch up with him and then before you know it his career is over. Graceful aging is extremely rare in pro sports.
Not making any predictions about Curry cause I don’t have a crystal ball. But I wouldn’t ever bet on any pro sports athlete over 33 having a successful bounce back from any injury.
The writing on the wall has already been there for almost 2 years. It is only more visible now that this is the twilight of Currys career. The only options they have now is to either go all in or start rebuilding. Nothing else. They cant go on that two timeline BS anymore as time is of essence. If the Dubs dont make a move for a star or superstar even, then they better start offloading people for picks and start rebuilding and let Curry be the guiding superstar ala Dirk passing the torch to Luka.
They would have cap space if Curry who is already fabulously wealthy took less than the most money in the NBA in this season plus the next two.
Im not saying hes not worth it, but Curry is a big part of why theyre having a hard time getting reinforcements for Curry. Some players like Dirk have taken pay cuts for team improvements. Problem is Curry cant even do that till 3 seasons from now.
@ChapmansVacuum Not all that familiar with the new CBA but is there a way to reconstruct Currys deal so that he can make less now but have additional years? I think he also qualifies to the over 36 rules so theres that.
Tall, good thought in theory and on paper but as long as the Warriors are able to compensate Curry, it will be the maximum possible and they’ll be glad to do it.
His value to the franchise has been astronomically exponential. I know you know that I’m just putting pen into paper.
Lacob bought the Warriors for 400 something million, and now they’re worth 10 billion 20 years later.
I actually wouldnt be shocked if he added another year this offseason at less than the max to get the best chance possible his last few years.
He isnt eligible to add another year until the next offseason, and because of the over 38 rule they can only add one more. Im not sure if you can even renegotiate fully guaranteed seasons. Most of the time its a option where they negotiate the full deal ahead of time and then decline the option and sign the new deal. I think they are just stuck with Steph at 59/62M the next two years.
At least the cap is rising by roughly 15+M a season. They could be in very different places the next two years depending on what they do this week. Trade your expirings for someone under contract next year while keeping and resigning Kuminga and you might have the TPMLE. If you deal Hield/Anderson and bring back either of GPII/Loon on what would probably be minimums. You could probably use the full MLE and maybe BAE as well. Also what number Kuminga ends up at will really matter but I think his cap hold is something like 18M so if you traded Wiggins/Hield/Anderson for Butler and let Jimmy walk this summer you could create cap space…
Yes, I and many agree with you on this original comment. All in or all out.
Last summer they tried the “give it a shot method. That’s because “all in wasn’t available. They’re doing their darndest to go all in again for the last couple weeks. I don’t see anyone for all in. Brandon Ingram? Very risky.
So I say all out. Draymond Green out Jonathan Kamminga out Andrew Wiggins out. Big game hunting again this summer. All in again, lol but hopefully with draft picks and a young guy or two from this deadline.
I dont know if anyone is going to trade close to what Draymond is worth to this team in this system for him.
Kuminga makes far more sense to trade this summer if you want to deal him since you can S&T him for the value of the new contract and do 3 team deals.
Wiggins seems like he should have decent value at his salary, but Im not sure the rest of the league sees it that way where you could get assets and expiring contracts for him in order to have cap space this summer and a bigger stockpile of young players and picks to deal.
We can easily forget how highly Draymond is regarded by. I still believe there are teams that highly covet Draymond for his intangibles, especially young teams like Detroit, San Antonio, Atlanta, and Houston that want to push to the next level. Or, even, OKC. He’s more, not less, valuable to those young teams than us.
This is the last year that Draymond’s $26M salary wouldn’t black that kind of a trade, though. Father Time has caught up. If Dubs don’t trade him by tomorrow, I think he’s here till he retires in 27 months.
Gary and Chapman – I’m sticking to my guns, believing what we’ve heard consistently from Lacob, the media that have reported on trades for the last 9 months, plus Steph and Draymond recently:
GSW is not trading Kuminga or Podz because there has to be life after Steph.
Anecdote for you guys: There has been accelerating attrition in season ticket renewals for the last 2 years, which puts downward pressure prices and revenues. That’s brought about a steady stream of messages to ticket holders (I’m one of ‘em) to the effect that this team will be competitive post-Steph. Draymond and Steph know what time it is.
Maybe it’ll change, but “all-in” has its limits.
There will be life after Steph. But if your selling them to me as Kuminga and Podz, then no thanks. Maybe its their contracts for somebody else but it aint definitely Podz. Maybe Kuminga but he has to take a huge leap soon.
I really want any unprotected warriors picks I can get.