Coming off a 114-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Golden State Warriors are now set for their NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets.
The Dubs have already beaten the Rockets twice this season, including a six-point victory just last Thursday, and currently own a 15-game winning streak against Houston, the longest streak for either team in the series since the two franchises first played one another in 1967.
But while a spot in the semis is on the line for Golden State, that's not what most NBA fans and pundits are talking about as it pertains to this team right now. Instead, the focus has been on the trade rumors involving LeBron James and Jimmy Butler, both of whom have been linked to the Warriors.
But before we get to those, let's kick things off with some info surrounding Andrew Wiggins' status for Wednesday night.
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After injuring his right ankle in the Warriors' loss to Minnesota this past Friday night, Wiggins sat out the second of back-to-back games with the Wolves on Sunday.
While the one-time All-Star is still officially listed as questionable on the injury report for Wednesday's matchup with Houston, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr offered an optimistic update, telling reporters that Wiggins should be good to go.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic is reporting that he'll likely still be questionable until about an hour before tip-off but also says things are trending in the right direction.
Wiggins had one of his best games of the season against the Rockets this past Thursday, scoring 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting and adding nine rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals, and a block.
When it comes to NBA trade rumors, the Warriors are seemingly always involved in one way or another. It's no stranger they were looking to add either Paul George or Lauri Markkanen during the offseason, and they've long been linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Now, with rumors running rampant that LeBron James may be looking to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State has naturally been named as a possible landing spot. The two sides have been linked in the past, but there's a ton of chatter surrounding this possible move, the latest coming from ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Wednesday morning.
During his appearance on Get Up, Windhorst downplayed the idea of a deal taking place but also stated that the Warriors would continue to follow the situation closely.
"It’s up to him," Windhorst said of LeBron. "He has a no-trade clause, and he has given no indication to the Lakers other than to upgrade the roster they’ve got, not that he wants to go anywhere."
"It’s a delicious scenario to think about," he continued. "The Warriors have dreamed of pairing LeBron with Steph Curry and Draymond Green since last year. They’ve made an inquiry and it got shut down, but that was before LeBron played with Curry and Steve Kerr and won the gold medal over the summer. So, they will definitely monitor the situation again."
Another player to whom Golden State has been linked is Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler.
The Heat are seemingly open to a trade, and if that occurs, Butler reportedly has three preferred destinations, those being the Rockets, the Dallas Mavericks, and, of course, the Warriors, who have shown previous interest in the six-time All-Star.
And according to Windhorst, the interest from Golden State remains, as he explained during the same Get Up appearance on Wednesday morning.
"The Warriors have been really active in trying to add a star player,” Windhorst said. “They kicked the tires on a couple of other stars over the summer, and if Jimmy Butler is available, and the Warriors feel like they can upgrade, that could be."