Getty Bradley Beal, No. 3 of the Washington Wizards, reacts after a play against the Golden State Warriors during the second half at Capital One Arena on April 21, 2021.
Throughout the 2020-21 NBA season analysts, figureheads, and fans have called for the Golden State Warriors to make trades for their team in order to improve it. Ever since All-Star guard, Klay Thompson tore his right Achilles the team’s status has been in jeopardy regarding competing at a high level.
Knowing this, there had been rumors of the Warriors looking at several All-Star caliber players in order to stay afloat. Yet none of it came to fruition.
However, a former Warriors champion and #1 overall draft pick spoke out about how the team should have changed to capitalize on their two-time MVP’s monster season.
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Bogut Would Have Traded Wiseman for Beal
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Former Warriors center Andrew Bogut made the headlines recently when he discussed how Curry had to change his MVP-winning game to accommodate former two-time Finals MVP, Kevin Durant. In doing so, he also spoke on how the Warriors will have to decide what route they want to go to maximize all their assets.
“Are the Warriors going the development route, the [trade] route, or are they going the hybrid route?” Bogut talked about on the Dubs Talk podcast via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Now I don’t think the hybrid works for them, I think they have to go one or the other. And I was probably in the boat of trying to throw [James] Wiseman and something else for [Bradley] Beal back a few months ago.”
“Just for the basis that you get Beal for right now you’re probably moving up, and being more competitive this season, and then next season you’ve got a legitimate lineup out there.”
“So that comes down to the question of Steph’s getting older, he still will be able to play long term because of the way he shoots the ball, but at the elite level we are seeing today, who knows how long he has left there. A couple years probably, two or three years at the level he is today, and he will have a slight decline just from age.”
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Will A Healthy Big 3 Save This Team?
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While Thompson being out for the season definitely hurt the Warriors’ chances of competing, walking the line of developing or succeeding right now will decide their future. Especially that of their big 3.
“Also Klay [Thompson’s] health, do you go for the home run and say we have got Steph at this elite level for another two or three years, do we want to bring in a Bradley Beal or bring an [Andre] Iguodala type that really puts us over the top and have us that one knockout punch again for a championship, or do you just go in the middle of the pack and develop Wiseman and Steph sails off without another championship,” Bogut said.
“That’s the question and that’s probably a stressful conversation they are having in that war room at the Warriors,” Bogut explained. “Because there is no real right answer, while winning a championship is the be all and end all, you also want to have Steph sent out the right way and give him the opportunity to compete for a championship.
“That then obviously loses you the opportunity to develop a kid like Wiseman who can make that move, where he can be an all-league center in five to 10 years.”
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