The Golden State Warriors may have locked up Stephen Curry to an extension, but their chances of competing for a title this season remain bleak.
The Ringer has the Warriors ranked as the 23rd-best team in the league entering the new season, and oddsmakers have set their over/under wins total at 40.5. Injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody — both expected to miss the first half of the season — heavily influence those projections. However, their returns aren’t going to move heaven and earth for the Warriors in the slightest.
The Warriors need to shake things up with a bold trade. One such intriguing Warriors trade idea would bring in Zion Williamson and reunite the Bay Area franchise with Jordan Poole. Here we explain why the move isn’t as risky as it sounds.
Blockbuster Warriors Trade Idea
Warriors would receive: Zion Williamson, Jordan Poole
Pelicans would receive: Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos
Crucially, the trade allows the Warriors to keep all their future picks in tact.
Why the Warriors Do It
Both Williamson and Poole are on expiring contracts. Technically, Williamson is signed through the 2027-28 season, but the Warriors have the option of not guaranteeing his $44.8M salary before the July 15, 2027 deadline.
Poole is also in the final year of the four-year, $128M contract he signed with the Warriors — a deal widely regarded as one of the worst in recent NBA history.
The Warriors can simply let both players walk next summer and keep alive their ambitious plans for 2027, when they are projected to have more than $60M in cap space. And in the process of this trade, the Warriors also avoid a scenario where they could overpay for Podz in restricted free agency (like they did with Jonathan Kuminga).
For all intents and purposes, this is a a risk-free transaction for the Warriors that gives Curry some firepower to work with for a year. After that, all bets are off.
Why the Pelicans Do It
It’s about time for the Pelicans to move on from Williamson, who has been nothing short of a disappointment since becoming their new franchise star in 2019.
After a season that saw the former No. 1 overall pick relegated to a reserve role for the first time ever, it doesn’t seem like he’ll get to play a bigger role this coming season due to the logjam of frontcourt players on the Pelicans roster.
With Saddiq Bey locked into an extension and Bennedict Mathurin joining the fold, the Pelicans find themselves with an overwhelming surplus of talent on the wings. If Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III lock down the starting spots, two among Williamson, Bey and Mathurin will be forced to slide to the bench, leaving players like Trendon Watford and Karlo Matkovic in line for sparse minutes.
It makes all the sense in the world for the Pels to cut ties with Williamson.
Furthermore, Moody, Podz and Santos are all young enough to be part of the Pelicans’ expanding core of Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Mathurin, Yves Missi and Murphy. As for Butler, the Pelicans can simply let him walk after this season, as he the veteran wing likely does not project as a good fit with their young nucleus.
Warriors Projected to Land Zion Williamson, Jordan Poole in Bold Trade