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The Golden State Warriors have a very expensive problem to solve somewhere down the road, and one NBA pundit believes they can address it right now with a blockbuster trade.
The Warriors had a group of four key players all eligible for contract extensions, and already locked up two with major deals to Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins. They still have decisions to make on veterans Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith suggested that the Warriors instead look to package the two in a trade that would be the equivalent of an earthquake to the NBA landscape.
Wild Trade Proposal Sends Lakers Star to Golden State
Smith floated the trade idea on NBA Countdown on November 9, suggesting that the Los Angeles Lakers could consider shaking up their disappointing start to the season by putting big man Anthony Davis on the trade block. Smith said the Lakers might be able to find a buyer in the Warriors, offering a solution to their financial predicament.
“If I’m the Los Angeles Lakers, I might pick up the phone and call [Warriors general manager] Bob Myers and [Warriors owner] Joe Lacob and say, ‘Anthony Davis, give me Klay Thompson and Draymond,’ ” Smith said. “[The Warriors] are not looking to pay everybody. They might do it.”
The idea didn’t land well. Co-host Jalen Rose noted that with injury concerns and a dropoff in production, Anthony Davis would no longer have the trade value to net two established stars in return.
“Your deal? I would send you to voicemail,” Rose said.
Smith is not the first to float a Davis-to-the-Warriors proposal as a means to shaking up the Lakers. NBA analyst Bill Simmons suggested on The Bill Simmons Podcast that if the Lakers decide to put the four-time All-NBA big man on the trade block, the Warriors would be a potential trade partner.
Warriors Could Find Cheaper Solution
The Warriors could have an easier way to address the impending extension decisions without pushing the team even deeper into the luxury tax. A Western Conference executive told Heavy Sports insider Sean Deveney that the Warriors are unlikely to give Thompson a “major deal” and would have a difficult time finding a trade partner for him.
“They’re not going to give him a major deal when they have so many other contracts they have to hand out,” the executive said. “They could trade him but who is going to take back a $43 million contract for him?”
The executive added that Thompson is willing to work with the Warriors on a more favorable contract extension, likely taking a pay cut in order to stay with the team beyond his current deal.
“He is going to have to take a pay cut to stay in the Bay Area,” the executive said. “And there is a feeling that he would be willing to do so, it is just a matter of how much. But he is eligible for an extension and that is just not happening right now. He is not a better player than Jordan Poole or Andrew Wiggins and they are getting much less than he is next year. They want to keep him, but there is not much chance of that if he wants a deal that pays him $20-$25 million.”
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