NBA Trade Rumors: Trading Andrew Wiggins to be No. 1 priority for Warriors?

NBA Trade Rumors: Heading into the offseason, it seems as if the Golden State Warriors will explore trading Andrew Wiggins.

Now that the 2023-24 NBA season is in the books for the Golden State Warriors, which ended at the hands of the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Play-In Tournament, this is a team that can start to focus on the future that lies ahead for them. Heading into the offseason, the Warriors will have some big questions to answer. While many are focused on the big decision the Warriors will have to make on Klay Thompson's future, there are so many other moving parts for this team heading into the summer.

And one of them revolves around the disappointing play of Andrew Wiggins over the last two seasons. Wiggins emerged as one of the team's most important players during their run to the NBA Finals back in 2022. However, he's been everything but that since.

So much so that for the better part of the last calendar year, he's been the subject of consistent trade rumors. While the Warriors have resisted trading him up to now, that doesn't appear that will be the case this summer. According to a recent report, the Warriors are expected to evaluate their trade options for Wiggins this summer. Quite frankly, the Warriors wouldn't be "evaluating their trade options" for Wiggins if they didn't have a plan to trade him.

What I gather from this report is that there's a very good chance the Warriors end up trading Wiggins this offseason.

Why it would make sense for the Golden State Warriors to trade Andrew Wiggins

Logistically speaking, there are many reasons why trading Wiggins would make sense for the Warriors. For one, it would decrease their tax bill. This season, the Warriors have the most expensive salary bill in the NBA. That's going to continue to be the case if they want to re-sign Klay Thompson this summer.

In an attempt to lower that number, the Warriors could elect to cut some of that bill off by trading one of their big salaried players. Such a move could include Wiggins. Especially if the Warriors end up re-signing Thompson, the expectation is that the team is going to make some moves that will help them reduce their salary.

Trading Wiggins could just be the start. Another name to keep an eye on is Chris Paul, who is due $30.8 million next season.