Getty Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins (middle)
One thing we can say for sure about the Warriors as we enter the 2024 NBA offseason in earnest, is that they will seek to be a different team heading into next season. The Big 3 of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson is not a lock to stay together (Thompson is a free agent), the front office is under pressure to get below the $171 million luxury tax and young players like Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis are all in line for more playing time.
Chris Paul won’t be back on the $30 million contract he has on the books—the Warriors do not have to guarantee it, and won’t. He could return, but at a much lesser number.
But probably the most significant change the Warriors could make this summer is moving on from wing Andrew Wiggins, a key part of their 2022 NBA Championship, but a piece that seems to have worn out his usefulness in Golden State. The Warriors are widely expected to pull off a trade involving Wiggins.
And one target to bear in mind: Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets’ champion small forward who has struggled in the postseason and whose five-year, $180 million contract makes him perhaps too expensive for the Nuggets to keep.
Warriors Could Deal Andrew Wiggins, Moses Moody
That’s the thought from many around the league, though it is likely that Denver seeks to exorcise payroll elsewhere. Dealing MPJ would be the easiest way to go about gaining breathing room for the Nuggets, and possibly moving on from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is likely to opt out of the final year of his contract and seek a raise.
The Warriors could help Denver on both fronts, with a trade that gives them a quality replacement for KCP while also swapping out Porter Jr. The trade proposal goes:
Nuggets get: SF Andrew Wiggins, SG Moses Moody, future first-round draft pick
Warriors get: SF Michael Porter Jr.
The deal would allow the Nuggets to deal away Porter and get a very good two-way player to replace him in Wiggins.
Warriors fans know well that it was not a banner year for Wiggins—in fact it might well have been the worst season of his NBA career in 2023-24. He averaged a career-low 13.2 points on 45.3% shooting, and made 35.8% of his 3-pointers.
Wiggins is still an excellent defensive player, though, and did play better as the year went on. He is only 29, so his recent slump is not likely an irreversible age-related decline. Remember, Wiggins is two years removed from an All-Star spot and averaged 17.1 points in 2022-23.
Wiggins has $84 million left on his four-year, $109 million contract.
Michael Porter Jr. a 3-Point Marksman
Giving up Moody would be difficult. He averaged 8.1 points last season on 46.2% shooting and 36.0% 3-point shooting. The numbers are not eye-popping, but he should thrive in a clear starting role.
But the Warriors would get Porter Jr. into the Chase Center, and he could be the kind of deadeye-shooting big man the team needs to reignite its attack. He is lacking defensively, but in his last two seasons with the Nuggets, Porter has averaged 17.0 points on 40.5% 3-point shooting.
An NBA executive has the Warriors as desperate to make a roster change as the Nuggets are to make a payroll change. The Warriors and Nuggets would be strange bedfellows, but they could help address each other’s desperation.
“(Wiggins) is the big chip (the Warriors) have to play,” one NBA executive told Heavy Sports. “They looked at trading him in (February) at the deadline but there was not anything there for them, nothing serious. But it is a foregone conclusion they’re going to look to do it again. They will have to put in young pieces, but he’s their only real path to retooling that roster.”
And the exec went on to describe potential Wiggins suitors.
“There will be desperate teams out there,” the exec said with a laugh. “The (luxury-tax) second apron is coming, there were a lot of injuries, there are a lot of contenders who were really, really disappointed this year.”