Fans of the Golden State Warriors have been outspoken lately about the lack of activity coming out of the Chase Center offices this summer. Three months after coach Steve Kerr met with the media to discuss his return to the bench by saying the team really needed “younger legs,” the Warriors are bringing back almost the same roster as last season, only without 26-year-old Quinten Post and with 23-year-old Jonathan Kuminga well in the rearview mirror. The Warriors did add Yaxel Lendeborg, but he’s the only set of new young legs sure to play.
But, as one Western Conference GM said, just because you don’t do something during a particular transaction period–at the draft, through the summer, at the trade deadline in February–does not mean you have not been setting up what’s next.
“There is always groundwork that you are laying,” the GM said. “You do work in the summer, you get the intel, you understand where teams are at with their players, their salaries all of that, then you’re in position to strike a little bit when the time comes. You spend the summer understanding where a trade might come in six months.”
Warriors Dealing With Injury Woes
With that in mind, the Warriors’ lack of maneuvers this summer might be frustrating, but are certainly understandable. This team does not know what it is, and can’t know until there is a clearer view of three important knees. The first is that of Stephen Curry, who dealt with “runner’s knee” from February through the end of the season, and while he says he is feeling good, it is impossible to know if that will hold up once the grind of the season begins.
There’s also the torn ACL suffered by star forward Jimmy Butler in January, and the patellar tendon tear for Moses Moody in March. Those guys could both be back by mid-December and humming by early January. Or they could struggle and not get back until mid-February. There’s no way to tell.
If all three of those knees are trouble next season, the Warriors could well be sellers at the trade deadline as they prep for 2027 free agency.
‘Multiple Ways to Get Better During the Season’
But, if healthy and playing well , that is when the Warriors could decide to get aggressive on the trade market. That’s been their approach in recent years, as Mike Dunleavy Jr. highlighted in last week’s meeting with the media.
“We have multiple ways to get better during the season, which is something we’ve done the last few years,” Dunleavy said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Whether it’s adding Butler, adding [Kristaps] Porzingis, you can go as far back as adding Andrew Wiggins. I’d say we’re pretty good about improving our team in the middle of the year.
“The most important thing right now is we got to get off to a good start. We can’t get in a hole because of the guys that we have out. So we’re gonna have to do some lifting early on to hold down the fort, and then after that, I feel pretty good about our ability. If we need to get better by adding talent, we can and we will.”
Warriors Have Flexibility to Make a Trade
Again, that is not the approach that Warriors fans want to hear. But it is realistic and takes into account that there could be a new wave of injuries and that there could be setbacks for Butler, Moody, Curry and even Porzingis, who has a long history of injury woes.
The Warriors have flexibility and draft picks (three tradeable first-rounders) at their disposal. There has been groundwork laid on trades, but what happens next depends on how the team comes together.
Warriors May Be ‘Laying Groundwork’ for Another Big Trade