Which stars make sense as Warriors trade targets?
It's hard to know how to evaluate the Golden State Warriors. After an offseason that marked something of a pivot with the departure of Klay Thompson, they got off to a rip-roaring 12-3 start, including a 3-0 record without Steph Curry in the lineup.
Steve Kerr showcased the team's depth by running a 12-man rotation, which helped keep everyone fresh enough to execute a demanding new defensive scheme that smothered opponents. Draymond Green was his characteristically brilliant self in the middle of that scheme, Curry was lighting it up at the other end, and Buddy Hield was patching the Thompson-sized shooting hole in their lineup. But they've lost six of their eight games since then, prompting renewed concern about whether the team has enough talent surrounding Curry (who will turn 37 in March) to seriously contend while he's near the top of his game.
Even with Green (who'll turn 35 a couple weeks before Curry) still proving capable of anchoring a top-five defense, and Andrew Wiggins bouncing back in a major way, the drop-off from Curry to the next-best player on the roster remains frightfully steep. Golden State's offense is 19.4 points per 100 possessions worse when he isn't on the floor, which is the second-biggest gulf in the league behind only Nikola Jokic's ludicrous 31-point differential, per Cleaning the Glass.
That's why the Warriors, who reportedly pursued Paul George and Lauri Markkanen in the offseason, are once again on the hunt for a second star, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Most players who signed offseason deals become eligible to be traded Sunday, so that hunt should begin in earnest soon.
The front office's head is in the right place. Every season with Curry playing at this level is a gift that can't be taken for granted, and the Warriors have enough pieces to put together an appealing package. They have all their own first-rounders (apart from picks 21-30 in the 2030 draft), a bunch of movable midsize salaries (with five vets landing between $8 million and $13 million), and a quartet of talented young players in Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson-Davis. (Moody is poison-pilled after signing a rookie extension in the offseason, however, which could make trading him logistically challenging.) Kerr won't be going 12 deep in the playoffs, so it makes sense for the Warriors to try to cash in some of their depth with a consolidation trade.
But are there any available and attainable stars who'd actually help pry the Warriors' championship window back open? Let's explore the small handful of options at the top of the market.
Brandon Ingram
The Pelicans shopped Ingram in the summer as they failed to find common ground in extension negotiations, with some roster redundancies and a looming tax crunch bearing down on them. They're in the midst of a season from hell. It doesn't feel like a team needs to bowl them over with an offer in order to pry Ingram loose.
The 27-year-old has gamely suited up and produced for a team that's been demolished by injuries, averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists on solid efficiency while getting threes up at the highest rate of his career. But even before Ingram suffered a severe ankle sprain that's expected to sideline him for several weeks, there were reasons for the Warriors to be wary of pursuing him. While his ability to create off the bounce and shoulder a big scoring load would help, his ball-holding proclivities would be a tough fit with their quick-hitting motion offense.
The Warriors do have experience folding in a similarly stringy wing with similar offensive tendencies, but Ingram is not Kevin Durant. (Plus, even Durant created some stylistic clashes with the holdovers of Kerr's system; it just didn't matter because those teams were so talented.) Though Ingram's a very good shooter, he doesn't generate a ton of off-ball gravity because of his aforementioned penchant for holding and probing rather than letting it fly off the catch.
Ingram is also a shaky and often inattentive defender, which might make it challenging to plop him into a scheme that thrives on intense ball pressure and the ability to rotate out of trouble.
Given Ingram's immense strengths and evident flaws, it's no surprise that he and the Pelicans can't agree on how he should be valued. With free agency a few months away, do the Warriors really want to sign up for that negotiating challenge? Ingram is a very good player, but acquiring him at this stage feels like more trouble than it's worth.
Zach LaVine
It seems like the Bulls have been trying to trade LaVine forever, but his contract (which has two years and $95 million left on it after this season), injury history, and reputation as an empty-stat merchant have been impediments. He and the Warriors could really help each other, though. As a sweet-shooting slasher who can thrive without the ball and in the open floor, he'd be a fantastic offensive fit.
LaVine is shooting 43.2% from deep on 7.7 attempts per game this season and scoring 1.35 points per possession in transition. Consider the fact that the Warriors have outscored opponents by 25.1 points per 100 possessions with Curry and Hield on the floor together. Now imagine a turbocharged version of that pairing that supplements Curry with a comparable shooter and transition scorer to Hield, but with way more athleticism and off-the-dribble juice.
Another big selling point is the driving and finishing ability LaVine would bring to a team that struggles to put pressure on the rim. Sending out Kuminga would arguably make that aspect of the deal a wash, but given LaVine's low trade value, the Warriors would probably be able to get him without even putting Kuminga on the table.
Wiggins, however, needs to be outbound in basically any scenario for salary-matching purposes, and it's fair to wonder whether such an exchange would actually help the Warriors. It would represent a massive defensive downgrade and leave their small-forward corps extremely depleted. While they've shown the ability to insulate a defensively limited backcourt (they have a 92.5 defensive rating with Curry and Hield on the court), Wiggins is an important component of that insulation.
Maybe the combined shooting and offensive firepower of a Curry-LaVine guard tandem would make it more tenable to play Kuminga at the three, which Kerr typically tries to avoid. But that's a big maybe, and there's no guarantee that this would put the team in a meaningfully better spot.
Jimmy Butler
Now we're talking.
Who knows how serious the Heat actually are about trading the man who's led them to three conference finals and two Finals appearances in the last five years. But with Butler able to opt out of his deal to become a free agent after this season, Miami is "open to listening to offers," according to Charania. Golden State should be lighting up the phones.
The 35-year-old Butler - who almost never shoots threes, tends to lapse into passivity on offense, and frequently misses time with injuries - is by far the best bet of all the available names to propel the Warriors back into legitimate contention. He's still a dogged defender - an absolute predator in the gaps. He and Green would wreak all kinds of havoc with their combined physicality, intuition, and unpredictability. (They'd also probably enjoy being psychotic competitors together.)
At the offensive end, Butler could take some of the creation load off Curry's shoulders. Butler remains an excellent on-ball playmaker - a powerful driver and finisher capable of conjuring buckets out of thin air when the moment demands it. He's also an elite off-ball player despite his lack of 3-point gravity because of his ability and willingness to cut, screen, slip, roll, seal, and connect the dots as a passer on the move. He's shooting a career-high 59% from 2-point range this season, with a free-throw attempt rate that's double that of anyone on the Warriors.
One of the smartest players in the league could undoubtedly fit into a read-and-react Golden State offense that demands quick and precise decision-making. Butler has plenty of experience working within an offense that flows out of delay and split action. His limitations as a shooter would make it tough to play him, Green, and a center at the same time, but we've seen Butler's Heat teams navigate similar spacing issues in the past using similar pass-and-cut principles. Besides, in the highest-leverage moments, the Warriors will probably roll with Green at center anyway. Butler would be an ideal wing to fill out those smaller lineups.
His age and contract status are legitimate concerns, but the Warriors are (or at least should be) operating on Curry's timeline. Cobbling together the outgoing salary to match the $48 million Butler's making this season would be difficult but not impossible. As for what happens beyond this season, perhaps the Warriors could convince him to pick up his $52-million option for 2025-26 and forestall a long-term commitment. Or maybe they could go the Wolves/Gobert route and extend Butler at a lower average annual value than that option year.
Whatever the long-term cost, Butler's short-term impact is probably worth it. He's a two-way playoff monster who'd give the Warriors a legitimate shot to win another ring before their Curry window closes for good.
Ultimate dice rolls
Let's say the Warriors don't think the aforementioned options or any other players on the market move the needle enough. If they want to swing for pure upside, there are a couple of chronically injured players who might be attainable, and who - if they can somehow get and stay healthy - would raise Golden State's ceiling in ways no other available player can. I'm talking, of course, about Kawhi Leonard and Zion Williamson.
By letting Paul George walk in the offseason, the Clippers showed they're ready to wash their hands of the injury-plagued Kawhi-PG era. They're off to an impressive 14-11 start without Leonard playing a single minute, and they'd surely love to shed the two years and $100 million remaining on his contract beyond this season. Taking that on would be a huge risk for Golden State, but think of the potential reward. Sure, Leonard looked like a shell of himself in the postseason and couldn't make it through Team USA's pre-Olympic training camp, but before that, he played 68 games and made the All-NBA second team. He's still a top-10 player in the league when healthy.
Imagine Williamson running either end of a two-man game with Curry, like a souped-up Draymond with a jet pack instead of a backpack. Those two would be unstoppable together and outrageously entertaining to watch. Plus, the next three years of Williamson's contract are no longer guaranteed, so if things didn't work out with the Pelicans star, the Warriors could cut their losses.
Realistically, the Warriors won't acquire either player, but it's fun to dream on the possibilities all the same.
Offseason targets
Big-game hunting isn't the Warriors' only option; they could make smaller upgrades and keep most of their powder dry for the summer. There's risk in waiting until Curry's age-38 season to make their big swing, but if they decide they can afford to be more patient, a whole host of alternatives could open up.
The Warriors could make another run at Markkanen, who's been a bit disappointing in the first year of his five-year max extension but shouldn't be judged on his performance for a blatantly tanking team. It would make sense to pursue him for all the reasons it made sense to pursue him last summer: He's a special offensive talent for a 7-footer, and he'd be an ideal complement to Steph and Draymond while also representing a bridge to the future.
Barring that, maybe the Rockets will decide they want to build around the more athletic pieces of their young core and dispense with Alperen Sengun, who'd be a fascinating fit in Golden State. Pascal Siakam's been on the Warriors' radar in the past; maybe he'll pop up again if the Pacers' season keeps going poorly. Other stars will shake loose due to unforeseen circumstances.
Their dream scenario is obviously a disillusioned Giannis Antetokounmpo pushing his way out of Milwaukee after another disappointing Bucks season, but that feels like a pipe dream at the moment. Even if he does demand a trade, it's hard to imagine Golden State putting together the winning offer. That won't stop Warriors fans from imagining the best shooter of all time joining forces with the best interior scorer in a generation for one last run at glory.
Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.