Windy believes Warriors top candidate to make ‘big trade’ at deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Warriors were one of the hottest teams in the NBA this season, racing to a a quick 7-1 start and tied for the number 1 seed in the stacked Western Conference.
One might think can’t fix what ain’t broke, but one NBA insider believes Golden State could be hungry for more before the league’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.
“They might not want to do anything with this roster because this roster is so good, but the Warriors are the biggest candidate in my mind to make a big trade,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Thursday morning on “First Take.” “They tried to trade for LeBron James at the last trade deadline. I know it was one of the most amazing stories reported last year that those trade talks fell through. Okay, that didn’t happen.
“Then they tried to trade for Paul George. Then they tried to trade for Lauri Markkanen. This is a team that has an itchy finger trying to make a big deal. All of these players’ values go up as that happens. Now they might not want to touch that, what they’re going for, but this team has their draft picks going forward, they’ve got all these guys and they’ve lowered their payroll by $50 million.”
“The Warriors are the biggest candidate in my mind to make a big trade. They tried to trade for LeBron James last trade deadline… This is a team that has an itchy finger trying to make a big deal.”
– Brian Windhorst 👀pic.twitter.com/0wYql9bYW4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) 7 November 2024
Golden State preached about its depth all offseason and into the preseason, and its confidence in its strength in numbers has rang true so far.
The Warriors rank first in bench pointswith the most points per game by a team off the bench this season with 59.4 per game.
But is the early success sustainable, and is it enough for Mike Dunleavy, Joe Lacob and Co.?
Windhorst was asked if there were any specific players he had heard the Warriors might have their eye on, to which he replied that we would have to “wait and see.” However, he redoubled his belief that they would be a team to watch over the next few months.
“I just know it’s something they kicked,” Windhorst said. “So they’re a team that not only has a lot going for them right now, but they have what it takes to potentially make a trade later.”
