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Michael Porter Jr. #17 of the Brooklyn Nets and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reach for the ball during the third quarter at Barclays Center on December 29, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
The Golden State Warriors reportedly have a contingency plan in place if a Michael Porter Jr. trade doesn’t materialize by the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline.
Per ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, the Warriors have discussed a list of frontcourt players and 3&D wings they could pursue if they fail to acquire one of their three top targets: Brooklyn Nets’ MPJ and New Orleans Pelicans‘ Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III.
“Should talks with the Nets fall through and neither Pelicans player is to be moved, expect the Warriors to pivot to secondary wing players and frontcourt talent.
“Players like Naji Marshall, Ayo Dosunmu, Haywood Highsmith, Daniel Gafford, Robert Williams III, Bobby Portis, and Dean Wade are all on the trade market and would be more affordable options for the Warriors outside of their top-three targets.”
Top of Warriors Trade Wishlist
Any one of Porter Jr., Jones or Murphy would be an intriguing addition to the Warriors. While Jones is the best defender of the three, Murphy arguably has the best two-way skillset. MPJ is undoubtedly the most dynamic offensive option, which might be the order of the day for the Warriors, who rank 13th in 3P% and 15th in offensive rating, and haven’t had a consistent scoring threat besides Stephen Curry all season.
Porter (3.7), in the middle of a career year, ranks third in made threes per game this season, behind only Curry (4.7) and Donovan Mitchell (3.9). Surely, Porter and Curry could be lethal together, especially given the latter’s gravity on the court.
Interestingly, Siegel’s report noted that the Warriors would be willing to give up only one first-round pick for Porter, but would give up two for Murphy.
“While the Warriors would be open to moving two first-round picks for Murphy, Golden State is cognizant of needing to maintain future draft assets,” wrote Siegel.
“Early signals from the Warriors are that they do not want to trade more than one first-round pick for Porter, especially since such a move would involve trading [Jonathan] Kuminga and Moses Moody.”
Warriors Need Frontcourt Help
It makes perfect sense for the Warriors to chase athletic frontcourt players. Steve Kerr’s team ranks 17th in the league in opponent paint points allowed (51.4), 19th in rebounding (43.5) and 21s in blocked shots per game (4.2). On the other end of the floor, they rank 29th in paint points scored (42.9). They could definitely use some size.
Per insider Chris Haynes, the Warriors have identified the aforementioned Gafford, Brooklyn Nets‘ Nic Claxton and Portland Trail Blazers’ Robert Williams as three athletic bigs they covet ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline.
“The Warriors are buyers. I was told they are looking for size and athleticism,” Haynes said told “NBA on Prime” in late December. “They’re looking for an athletic center.”
The Warriors suffered a blowout loss to the Hawks Sunday night, falling 3.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns (24-15) for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth and 3.0 games behind the seventh-seeded Houston Rockets (22-14).