The Golden State Warriors have a lot to think about in the coming weeks.
Before this week's slate tipped off, the Warriors were mapping out their trade plans with Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler in mind. You can forget about the latter at this point, as Butler suffered an unfortunate season-ending ACL injury.
Nobody assumes the Warriors will throw in the towel and finally fire up a rebuild. Curry is still playing at a high level and wants to finish his run with the Warriors. Their front office will do what they have to do to satisfy the needs of the roster.
Steph Curry was asked about the Warriors' trade plans and what he might think about what they need to do in the coming weeks. The superstar guard would draw a hard line with the questioning, following the Warriors' 123-115 loss.
"I'm not talking about that right now, we're just trying to win a game on the road," said the All-Star. "There is a lot of time before February 6. There's a lot of time before the playoffs. I don't need any existential thoughts right now."
All season long, the Warriors have been one of the most talked-about teams in the trade market. Not necessarily because of who they are targeting. It's more about who they might ship out.
Golden State's front office was warned by many about signing Jonathan Kuminga with a mindset to trade him midway through the year. From the first week of the season, the talks were loud and haven't gone away. January 15th hit, and Kuminga formally requested a trade. It came after Kuminga spent weeks on the bench, deemed out of the rotation.
Now, the Warriors are in a tricky spot. They lost Butler, which opened up another rotation spot. Steve Kerr hasn't really had a choice but to play Kuminga. In his first game back on January 20, Kuminga produced 20 points and five rebounds. In his second game, he accounted for 10 points in under 10 minutes. Kuminga still wants a trade, but the market is still seemingly dry.
The trade chatter is growing louder for the Warriors by the day, but Curry isn't giving an ounce of thought to it to the public. With the Warriors finding themselves in a two-game hole since Butler went down, they can't hold out hope for a deadline savior to come in. At 25-21, they have plenty of work to do.
Newsweek