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Everyone knows the biggest thing on Steph Curry’s mind is the opportunity to play meaningful basketball.
So much for that. At least unless Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy can work a miracle ahead of Thursday’s 12 p.m. trade deadline.
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The Warriors effectively pulled out of the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes on Wednesday by trading Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Hawks in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis.
For years, the Warriors have treated their young prospects and future draft assets with care in preparation for the possibility of Antetokounmpo (or a similar superstar talent) becoming available. Golden State’s trade with Atlanta, coupled with a move to send young center Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a second-round draft pick, likely squashed their chances of creating a package the Milwaukee Bucks would deem acceptable for Antetokounmpo.
League sources confirmed the trades to The Standard, which clear space for Golden State to elevate two-way guard Pat Spencer. ESPN first reported the transactions.
Porzingis can space the floor, but has a hard time staying on it. The 10-year NBA veteran is averaging 17.1 points per game, but has appeared in just 17 games and is averaging a career-low 24.3 minutes per game. He played just 42 games last year as he dealt with POTS, a chronic autonomic nervous system disorder, and has a history of lower-leg injuries.
The Warriors’ outlook changed on Jan. 19, when star wing Jimmy Butler suffered a season-ending torn ACL. They had won 12 of 16 games at the time, starting to resemble the squad that was possibly a Curry hamstring strain away from the Western Conference Finals last year.
Their title odds were slim then. Now, even after acquiring Porzingis, championship contention is a pipe dream.
Antetokounmpo would have changed that, of course. But despite the Warriors’ careful asset management, Milwaukee apparently wasn’t interested in exchanging the two-time MVP for their draft pick-heavy package.
This week was Golden State’s best chance for swinging an Antetokounmpo deal. This summer, rival teams will have more draft picks unlocked to offer, while the Warriors’ proposal can’t include Kuminga, who was a player the Bucks had reportedly checked in on in the past.
Antetokounmpo was certainly the biggest splash the Warriors targeted this week. But if the name of the game is achieving relevance, he wasn’t the only option available.
Backup plans could have included Jaren Jackson Jr., who went to Utah for a package of three future first-round picks. Or Anthony Davis, the oft-injured big who’s elite when on the court. He’ll be in the line for an ominous, lucrative contract extension, but the Wizards picked Davis up for the low price of two late first-round picks (including the 1-20 protected 2030 Warriors selection), three second-rounders, and salary filler.
The Warriors didn’t have to acquire a star to spice up the rest of the season. Jaden Ivey and Jared McCain, two young players with upside, have also reportedly changed teams.
Maybe Porzingis, if healthy, could accomplish that. As a rim-protecting center who can shoot 3-pointers, he’s the platonic ideal of a Warriors center. But his injury history and $30 million expiring contract don’t necessarily signal a commitment to competing now.
The trade also ends a tumultuous 4.5-year tenure for Kuminga, who would’ve been in line for more minutes without Butler. Team sources in the past month indicated the Warriors’ options for trading him were stronger than the public may have thought — contrary to Dunleavy’s famous “demand” soundbite — and Porzingis could have been what they had in mind.
No matter how well Kuminga played in the second half of the season, he wasn’t going to turn the Butler-less Warriors into title contenders. Neither will Porzingis.
Golden State seems destined for the play-in round, where it has finished in back-to-back seasons.
It’d be unrealistic for the Warriors to truly contend for a title every single year. They’ve won four championships in the past 12 seasons, since Steve Kerr became head coach in 2014. The organization, from ownership to management to the coaching staff to Curry and the players, has had one of the most successful runs since Michael Jordan’s Bulls.
Yet it wouldn’t be too much to ask for them to surround Curry with enough talent to lift him back to where he wants to go: meaningful basketball territory. He’s almost 38 years old, defying Father Time by continuing to perform at an All-NBA level. He has earned a chance to at least compete.
Every Curry season is precious.
This one, though, appears to be going nowhere.