Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors
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Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors will enter the offseason with a sense of urgency. Steve Kerr’s team has been decimated by injuries throughout the 2025-26 campaign, highlighting a need for some additional high-level depth.
As such, Golden State will likely be active in both the free agency and trade markets to begin the summer.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley has proposed a trade that would land Michael Porter Jr in the Bay Area, although it would come at a steep price.
Buckley’s proposed trade looks like this:
Warriors Get: Michael Porter Jr
Brooklyn Nets Get: Warriors’ 2026 first-round pick, Kristaps Porzingis via sign-and-trade and Brandin Podziemski.
“Would it be reckless for a team as badly in need of youth and athleticism as the Warriors to trade out of this loaded lottery?” Buckley reasoned. “Maybe, but if the goal is competing at the highest possible level for however long Stephen Curry sticks around, who would help more: a lottery pick, an oft-injured Porziņģis and the inconsistent Podziesmki, or Porter, a 6’10” scoring forward with a career 49.3/39.8/81.2 slash line?”
Buckley continued.
“Porter’s per-game numbers with the Nets and his pay rate are both inflated, but that may not matter to Golden State. Not when it has a standing need for spacing so long as Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green are still around. Not to mention a nagging itch for scoring assistance for Curry.”
Trading away a potential lottery pick in what is a loaded draft class would certainly be a risk. However, the Warriors will need to make some bold moves if they want to give Curry a chance to add another championship to his stellar resume.
Warriors Expected To “Load Up” This Summer
According to Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard, opposing teams around the NBA are expecting Golden State to “load up” on talent throughout the summer.
“The league, I think, isn’t concerned that they’re going to go win another title, but they are concerned that they are going to load up like crazy going into next season,” Kawakami reported.
It’s worth noting that Kawakami then went on to postulate that either LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard could be the Warriors’ primary targets this summer. Nevertheless, a move for Porter Jr could still be viable, assuming Mike Dunleavy Jr strikes out on adding one of the veteran superstars Kawakami mentioned.
Warriors’ Podziemski Has Chemistry With Porzingis
During his postgame news conference following the Warriors’ 116-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, March 29, Podziemski detailed his growing chemistry with Porzingis.
“Every game is growing for us,” Podziemski said. “He’s playing really well, high level. We’re understanding what his tendencies are, what he likes, what he doesn’t. So each game that we’re playing, he’s getting better and better, which is a good sign for not only the rest of this year, but hopefully next year.”
Based on Buckley’s trade proposal, Brooklyn would be getting a pre-built pick-and-roll partnership that could be a viable weapon in the Eastern Conference. Furthermore, they would receive a viable long-term building block in Podziemski.
If the Warriors did send over a trade proposal similar to the one Buckley has suggested, it might be hard for the Nets to turn it down. Especially if they’re confident that Porzingis’ health issues are now a thing of the past.