Getty Stephen Curry sitting on the Golden State Warriors bench.
As the NBA trade deadline quickly approaches, the Golden State Warriors have some decisions to make. After winning the NBA Championship last year, their fourth in the last eight seasons, they have jumped out to a rocky 22-22 start, which places them in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Heading into the year, they were hoping to depend on their youngsters – James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga – to provide quality bench depth. That hasn’t gone quite to plan. But now, according to sources who spoke with Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, the front office and the players are split on how to approach the trade deadline.
“It depends who you talk to,” a Western Conference executive told Deveney. “They have always had a front office, a whole organization that was on the same page, start to end. They’re in a spot now where there’s some difference of opinion, that some of the players and coaches want them to be aggressive now, and some of the front office wants them to keep being patient with the young guys.”
Most of the reports that have been surfacing detail how the front office is hesitant to give up on Wiseman, in particular. He was the second-overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and now he’s been struggling to earn regular playing time, having been sent down to the G League on multiple occasions.
While ownership and the front office seem content with sticking with him and riding out the growing pains, the players may not be so keen. The trio of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson only has so many years left, so to spend them waiting for youngsters to develop probably isn’t their first choice of how to proceed.
Draymond Green Upset About Offseason Losses
When the Warriors turned to their young players to take over the second unit for this season, it was largely because they lost so many valuable pieces over the summer. Guys like Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., and Nemanja Bjelica.
During a recent appearance on Know Mercy with Stephen A. Smith, Green expressed his disappointment in the fact that Payton and Porter aren’t around anymore.
“Absolutely hate it, and still hate that GP is not here and to see him go,” Green told Smith. “No. 1, you build a relationship with guys and the relationship we’ve been able to build, you just hate to see that kind of separate… Because in the NBA, everyone’s living their own lives and yes, you stay in touch and all that, but it’s nothing like being together on a daily basis.”
Stephen Curry ‘Will Be Pissed’ at Trade Deadline Plans
Green’s disappointment in the losses of Payton and Porter is likely shared by his veteran teammates. Curry is already 34 years old, so he obviously wants to be competing for championships. And according to other sources who spoke with Deveney, he “will be pissed” at the Warriors’ trade deadline plans.
“Steph lets it be known, and he has let it be known that he is going to be 35 [in March], and he does not have time to wait for James Wiseman to make trips to the G League,” a Western Conference executive told Deveney. “He also is not of the mindset that they won a championship last year, and they should be satisfied with that – he will be pissed, frankly, if they do nothing and they lose in the play-in or something.”