Golden State Warriors Looking To Upgrade The 3 Spot, Offering #7 Pick
By Editorial Staff
After trading for former Milwaukee Bucks Center Andrew Bogut, the Golden State Warriors believe if everybody can stay healthy, their time to compete is now. A healthy Bogut can provide a physical interior defensive presence that has been lacking for the Warriors, and can help mask some of productive forward David Lee’s defensive limitations. With Steph Curry at the point, and the promising Klay Thompson at the 2, it appears that the 3 is the only real weak spot in the Warriors lineup. The rumor is that the Warriors would love to trade for an established small forward, and are prepared to dangle the #7 overall pick to obtain one.
The problem is, the Warriors aren’t blessed with an abundance of cap space, and already burned their amnesty on Charlie Bell last year. If they want to bring in a strong small forward, (i.e one who is good enough to actually be making real money), they’re going to have to find somebody willing to take a less than ideal contract, and may need to contribute more than just a high pick to make the deal work.
One player that appears to perennially be on the trading block is Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls. While Deng never quite lived up to his high expectations (remember, the Bulls wouldn’t trade the guy to bring in Kobe Bryant a few years ago), he did make an all-star team last year, and with Rose expected to be miss a good chunk of next season, Deng is one of the only Bulls left who can actually create his own shot. There really isn’t anybody that the Warriors can offer for Deng alone that would interest Chicago (or make sense, salary wise). The only way a possible trade could work is if Golden State agreed to take the perpetually disappointing Carlos Boozer back as well.
Chicago could send Deng and Boozer for David Lee, Klay Thompson, Richard Jefferson and the pick. The Bulls could then elect to use their amnesty clause on Jefferson, who while productive, is not worth 9 million dollars a year for the next three seasons. Chicago would then have more cap flexibility to chase after another point guard, and could use their pick to either draft another wing (Harrison Barnes?), or in a deal with their other pick to grab a more established player. Golden State would have a great defensive stopper in Deng, and a pretty formidable frontcourt, albeit an injury prone one.
Another wing that seems to always be on the trading block is Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala. With Evan Turner starting to emerge, there may be an even great pusher to move Iggy, and Golden State might actually be a great fit for him. Andre wouldn’t be pressured to handle a significant scoring load, and could focus on being a shut down defender and rebounder. Golden State could offer their 7th pick, Dorrel Wright and enigma Andris Biedrins. Biedirns would be a very likely amnesty candidate after his {awful} season, but he’s a legit 7 footer, has a career average of over 7 boards a game, and is only 26. Philly may want to use him as a spot bench player to provide toughness (he’s only included to make the salaries match up). This trade wouldn’t be horrible for Philly…if they cut Biedrins, they’d have extra money to throw at Spencer Hawes (or another FA), and they’d have 2 early 1st rounders and a solid bench player. They may be able to get a better offer though.
The pickings get fairly slim after that. If the Warriors are determined to find a starting SF and don’t think they can find one in the draft, their only real hope is to trade the pick along with a horrible contract (either Jefferson or Biedrins), hoping that the new team will amnesty the player. The Warriors can then use their cap savings to pursue somebody in free agency, like Gerald Wallace, Nic Batum, or (more likely) Chase Budinger.
If they keep the pick, the Warriors could get Harrison Barnes if they are lucky, or a project like Perry Jones III.
Follow Matt Brown on Twitter at @windycitymatt