The NBA trade deadline is just days away and the Warriors are expected to make some moves.
Sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference with a record of 19-24, it's clear that changes are needed for Golden State, but what those changes might look like hasn't been so obvious. However, Shams Charania of The Athletic provided some clarity on the Warriors' trade deadline approach on Monday morning.
“The Warriors are at the other end of the stick. They lost six of eight games,” Charania said on FanDuel’s “Run It Back.” “We talked about it. Everyone is at the table except Steph Curry. So if you think about it realistically, Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Poziemski are two guys that they’re really into.” [and] They want to stay long-term. you see [them] as part of their core moving forward.
“They'll be taking calls on Andrew Wiggins and Chris Paul, and could they be interested in a guy like Klay Thompson? I think these are very open conversations for the Warriors. You have to be open-minded. This is a team that is five games under .500, in 12th place. So we will see if there will be any changes in the next 10 days.”
While Wiggins and Paul have been linked to various trade rumors in recent weeks, the inclusion of Thompson might come as a surprise to some.
Thompson has played his entire NBA career with the Warriors and has openly stated that he would like to retire with the organization that drafted him 11th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft.
The Splash Bro struggled with an inconsistent start to the season, but responded with glimpses of his old self in recent games. The 33-year-old is averaging 17.6 points on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent on three-pointers, as well as 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 42 games.
Meanwhile, Wiggins' problems early in the season haven't completely disappeared. With 12.3 points on 43.4 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from deep as well as 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 39 games, Wiggins is averaging almost all career lows.
His problems led to him losing his place in the starting lineup at some point in the season as Warriors coach Steve Kerr experimented with different lineups to find a solution.
While the Warriors played better basketball as a team, they found themselves on the wrong side of close, to-the-point duels and blew too many leads.
It's all just speculation at the moment, but the Warriors need to make big adjustments if they want to get back into the NBA Playoffs. And the clock is ticking.
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