Windy believes Warriors top candidate to make ‘big trade’ at deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Warriors have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA this season, racing to a quick 7-1 start and tied for the No. 1 seed in the stacked Western Conference.
One might think not to fix what’s not broken, but one NBA insider believes Golden State could be hungry for more before the league’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.
“They may not want to do anything with this roster because this roster is so good, but the Warriors are the biggest candidate in my mind to make a big trade,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Thursday morning on “First Take.” “They tried to trade for LeBron James last trade deadline. I know it was one of the most amazing stories reported last year, that those trade talks went down. OK, that didn’t happen.
“Then they tried to trade for Paul George. Then they tried to trade for Lauri Markkanen. This is a team that’s got an itchy trigger finger trying to make a big deal. All of these players’ values are increasing as this happens. Now they may not want to touch what they’ve got going, but this team has its draft picks going forward, they have all these guys and they’ve lowered their payroll by $50 million.”
“The Warriors are the biggest candidate in my mind to make a big trade. They tried to trade for LeBron James last trade deadline… This is a team that’s got an itchy trigger finger trying to make a big deal.”
– Brian Windhorst 👀pic.twitter.com/0wYql9bYW4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 7, 2024
Golden State preached about its depth all offseason and into the preseason, and its confidence in its strength in numbers has rung true thus far.
The Warriors rank first in bench points, with the most points per game by a team off the bench this season with 59.4 per game.
But is the early success sustainable, and is it enough for Mike Dunleavy, Joe Lacob and Co.?
Windhorst was asked if there are any specific players he has heard the Warriors might have their eye on, to which he responded we should “wait and see.” However, he doubled down on his belief that they would be a team to watch over the next few months.
“I just know that it’s something they’ve kicked around,” Windhorst said. “So they’re a team that not only has so much going on for them right now, but they have what’s needed to potentially make a trade later.”