If the recent reporting is any indication, the Golden State Warriors are going to be aggressive leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline.
For a while this season, it didn't seem as though losing Klay Thompson didn't have a big impact on the Golden State Warriors. The emergence of Buddy Hield and Andrew Wiggins played a big part in that during the early portion of the year. However, over the last month, it does seem as if something has changed for the Warriors. Golden State has lost six of their last eight games and the team appears to be experiencing some regression to the mean.
At this point, if the Warriors are going to remain afloat in the West, a move before the trade deadline does appear to be in their near future. While finding the right deal could become a challenge for the Warriors, this is a team that could be extra motivated to get something done. Considering they have already been linked to several deadline candidates, the Warriors are expected to be aggressive leading up to the trade deadline.
Which trade candidates have the Golden State Warriors been linked to?
Over the past few weeks, the Warriors have been linked to the likes of Jimmy Butler, who the Miami Heat is finally open to trade callas on, and a flurry of Brooklyn Nets players (Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Cameron Johnson). And those are just the names that have been publicly linked to the Warriors. I'm sure there are other players the front office has or will have conversations about leading up to the trade deadline.
After losing Klay in free agency and then missing out on Lauri Markkanen and Paul George via trade after that, there's reason to believe that the Warriors may have missed their best opportunity to significantly upgrade their roster. That said, I also don't believe the Warriors are going to give up on their attempt to land a star to help extend or reopen the championship window for Steph Curry.
With how they've played to start the season, there should be a level of optimism for the Warriors. However, if one thing has become clear, it's that if this team is going to contend for a championship this season, there has to be a significant upgrade before the NBA Trade Deadline. Whether the Warriors will be able to pull off such a move remains to be seen. Make no mistake, this front office is going to try and it does sound as if they're already preparing for an aggressive pursuit before the deadline.