Getty Orlando Magic guard Gary Harris is guarded by Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls.
If the Golden State Warriors drop Wednesday’s Game 5 to the Los Angeles Lakers, their season will be over and they’ll be headed back to the drawing board. It’s unclear how significant any changes that come this offseason will be for the Dubs, but there are a few things to keep an eye on. Is Draymond Green going to opt-in to his final year? Will the team look to move on from Jordan Poole? Could the Warriors surprise everyone with a less-rumored move?
In the scenario where Golden State makes a surprising move, it likely wouldn’t be anything earth shattering. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley pinned Orlando Magic guard Gary Harris as the team’s “dream trade target.”
“The Golden State Warriors could, in theory, aim higher than Gary Harris on the trade market…” Buckley wrote. “Assuming the Dubs don’t have a massive trade budget, then, they might ditch any hopes of increasing their star power and instead focus on finding more stability in their supporting cast. They could have enough assets to swing a Harris deal, and he, in turn, could quickly emerge as one of their more reliable role players. With his perimeter stroke back (40.4 percent the past two seasons, 33.7 the three years prior), he should again rank favorably among the Association’s better three-and-D players. He is as pesky as they come at the point of attack, and he can switch through most perimeter assignments without missing a beat.”
Would a Warriors-Magic Gary Harris Trade Make Sense?
Harris will enter the final year of his two-year, $26 million contract next season. Adding him to the rotation could solve what’s been a major issue for the Warriors this spring, bench shooting. Of the 16 playoff teams, Golden State ranks 11th in bench 3-point efficiency at just 29.6%.
The potential addition of Harris would hopefully aid that number, as well as provide a bit of defensive reliability from the reserves.
The 28-year-old appeared in 48 games for the Magic this year, starting in 42 of them. He averaged 8.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. Like Buckley mentioned, he was reliable from beyond the arc, making 43.1% of his attempts from long range.
Executive Says Warriors Rushed Jordan Poole Extension
A key contributor to Golden State’s bench shooting woes this spring has been Poole. The 23-year-old has struggled to find any sort of consistency in these playoffs, averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game. Again, he’s been extremely inefficient for the Dubs, shooting just 34.2% from the field, and 27.8% from deep.
This disaster postseason comes less than a year after the Warriors gave Poole a four year, $120 million extension.
An anonymous Eastern Conference executive who spoke with Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus slammed the team’s decision to extend the young guard.
“I don’t know why the Warriors rushed to overpay him. They could have given him the same money this summer. At least then, they’d know what his contract would mean to their situation,” the Eastern Conference executive told Pincus. “He’s earning more than [Andrew] Wiggins, and Wiggins is way more valuable than Poole.”
Poole has essentially played himself out of Steve Kerr‘s rotation. He logged just 10 minutes in Monday’s Game 4 loss, failing to even score.