Fans should expect the Golden State Warriors to shake up their roster before the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
The current version of the Warriors would be lucky to advance past the Play-In tournament, which is unquestionably alarming at this stage of the season.
While many believe the Warriors should focus on providing star point guard Stephen Curry with the necessary assistance moving forward, Golden State of Mind’s Marc Delucchi has other plans.
Delucchi believes that there’s a world where the Warriors move on from Curry in favor of a 31-year-old NBA champion star guard via a three-team blockbuster trade.
“While the Rockets have reportedly no interest in a mid-season trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Curry would address the exact position Houston needs to upgrade,” Delucchi wrote Tuesday.
“By combining (Fred) VanVleet’s salary and (Reed) Sheppard in a trade package with recently-extended young big man Jabari Smith Jr. And another mid-level contract (e.g., Dorian Finney-Smith), the Rockets would have sufficient salary-matching to acquire Curry in a trade.”
“Houston would still be able to hold onto their two best young players: Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson. Smith’s contract faces a poison-pill provision due to his recent extension, which would likely require the two sides to find a third team.”
For clarity, Delucchi’s three-team trade proposal sends Curry and Gui Santos to the Rockets, Sheppard, Smith, VanVleet, and four future first-round picks to the Warriors, and Finney Smith to the Detroit Pistons.
While sending Curry to the Rockets wouldn’t catapult the Dubs into championship contention, it would improve Curry’s odds of winning his fifth title before retiring.
Playing alongside a high-IQ and physically imposing guard in Thompson and a Nikola-like big man in Sengun would ensure that Curry’s jaw-dropping contributions would no longer go to waste.
The Warriors had no business losing to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday with Curry erupting for 48 points (including 12 threes). Somehow, someway, though, Golden State suffered a 136-131 defeat at the hands of the Trail Blazers to drop to 13-14 on the year.
Curry doesn’t deserve to spend his final years on an unserious Western Conference squad, which makes it logical to assume that the four-time NBA champion would be fully on board with Delucchi’s thought-provoking trade idea.
While the Warriors would be far from abysmal with VanVleet as their new starting point guard, he wouldn’t be able to replace Curry’s remarkable production in the Bay.
Besides, the former Toronto Raptors standout guard is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in October and is unlikely to be available this season.
In a more realistic world, the Warriors would trade for a star/superstar to pair with Curry instead of sending him packing after 17 eventful seasons.
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