Report: Warriors believe they are ‘well-positioned’ for a trade upgrade

The Golden State Warriors have not pulled off a blockbuster deal to add to their roster ahead of the 2024-25 regular season, but according to NBA insider Marc Stein, they still feel that they are “well-positioned” to make a trade.

“Golden State is plotting its next moves in the wake of unsuccessful trade pursuits of Paul George and Lauri Markkanen in the offseason,” Stein wrote. “Team officials believe they remain well-positioned for a trade upgrade at some point in the next year or so after responding to the free agent departure of [Stephen] Curry’s longtime backcourt mate Klay Thompson by acquiring Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton on short-term deals and retaining all of their draft picks. The distinct sense at Chase Center is that the [Los Angeles] Clippers and [Utah] Jazz, despite no shortage of conversation with both teams, did not really want to do business with the Warriors.”

Golden State lost sharpshooter Klay Thompson in a sign-and-trade with the Dallas Mavericks this offseason, leaving Curry and Draymond Green with a new supporting cast around them in the 2024-25 campaign.

While there are still some familiar faces like youngsters Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski – as well as veterans Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney – the Warriors added several new rotation pieces as well.

The hope is that Melton, Anderson and Hield can help make up for the loss of Thompson and bring more depth to a team that failed to make the playoffs last season.

After winning the title in the 2021-22 season, the Warriors have won just one playoff series, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs in the 2022-23 season. Last season, they were eliminated by the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament.

During the Paris Olympics, Curry showed that he is still one of the best players in the world, putting on a shooting clinic against Serbia and France in the final two games of the tournament to help Team USA capture the gold medal.

It’s possible that could add some pressure to the Warriors front office to make a deal to help Curry compete for a fifth NBA title in his storied career.

The Warriors do have some intriguing young pieces in Kuminga and Podziemski.

Kuminga, a lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, scored a career-high 16.1 points per game last season and started a career-high 46 games. The Warriors could use him as trade bait, or they can hope that he continues to develop into a No. 2 scoring option behind Curry.

Podziemski, the Warriors’ first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, showed a lot of versatility as a rookie, playing both as a starter and off the bench while averaging 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

If the Warriors are willing to package one or both of those young players along with some future draft capital, they may be able to land a star to support Curry during the final stretch of his career.