Getty Golden State Warriors president Bob Myers on the dais during Kevin Durant's 2016 introductory press conference.
Entering their Saturday night showdown with the Boston Celtics, the Golden State Warriors‘ 2022-23 season had been one heck of a mixed bag. Stephen Curry has been performing at an MVP level all year and the team’s starting five is crushing it, but the youth movement, the second unit and the team’s defense have all fallen short of expectations.
As a result, the Dubs took a shockingly meager 13-13 record into their NBA Finals rematch at Chase Center. And while there’s a level of internal improvement that can still take place over the final 2/3 of the campaign, a shrewd trade for a battle-tested, playoff-ready vet could be the thing that gets the team back into the title picture.
To that end, a pair of seven-footers — Jakob Poeltl of the San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner — have received frequent mention as potential targets.
More recently, though, a league insider namechecked a slew of perimeter players/scorers as ballers who have piqued the interest of Golden State’s front office.
Warriors Chasing Members of Raptors’ 2019 Title Team?
Bleacher Report‘s Eric Pincus tipped off the weekend with a full-on blasting of trade intel, and the Warriors were mentioned in the report. According to the longtime league insider, the Dubs could have interest in, well… just about every member of the Toronto Raptors’ core not named Scottie Barnes.
Wrote Pincus:
The list of teams interested in [Pascal] Siakam, [OG] Anunoby (especially Anunoby), [Fred] VanVleet and [Gary] Trent is varied, likely including the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, Lakers, Suns, Kings and Nets, among others.
Pincus didn’t actually isolate the names the may hold interest for the Warriors, but it’s not difficult to envision any one of the aforementioned being discussed by team president Bob Myers and his brain trust as potential acquisitions.
Siakam is a 25 PPG scorer and plus defender who would instantly become the Warriors’ second-best player if he were moved to the Bay. Anunoby is one of the best young players in the game and another two-way gem. Also: he’s in the midst of a career year with averages of 19.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and a league-best 2.4 steals per contest.
Finally, VanVleet and Trent can flat-out score the basketball (although the former is struggling as a shooter this season).
Is There a Clear Path for Deal-Making, Though?
As Pincus sees it, the Raptors are likely the most inclined of the teams he wrote about — a group that also included the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards — to keep their current core intact. However, the insider’s sources have also indicated that outside teams are monitoring Toronto’s situation closely.
Still, “giving up core pieces that won a championship in 2019 is a lot to ask of Toronto,” according to Pincus.
Meanwhile, to match financials in deals for any of the aforementioned ballers, the Warriors would have to part with somet significant stuff. Anunoby has the smallest ’22-23 salary of the lot, and he’s pulling down a cool $17.4 million this season. So, making a deal with the Raptors wouldn’t be as simple as shipping out James Wiseman and a pick, for example.
Especially if you’re making the big play with Siakam, who’s in year three of a four-year, $137 million contract.