The Warriors aren’t interested in trading Draymond Green or Klay Thompson ahead of the February 8 deadline, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, but they might consider moving Chris Paul or Andrew Wiggins.
Former No. 1 overall pick Wiggins is having a disappointing year, but he’s played much better recently, while Paul, who is currently injured after undergoing hand surgery, is 38 years old and on a pseudo-expiring contract. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, head coach Steve Kerr said he was aware of Wiggins being mentioned in trade rumors, but he hopes he’s still on the roster late next week.
“I’m very hopeful and I expect him to be here when the trade deadline passes,” Kerr said, per ESPN.
As for Green and Thompson, Windhorst’s report isn’t surprising. While Shams Charania of The Athletic has said Stephen Curry will be the only Warrior off the table in trade talks, he also downplayed the possibility of a trade involving Green or Thompson, two longtime veterans who helped Golden State win four championships — and make six Finals appearances — from 2015-22. Other reporting indicated Curry would have to sign off on such a deal, which was always considered unlikely.
Here’s more from the Pacific:
- Appearing on 95.7 The Game’s Willard and Dibs show on Wednesday (Twitter link), Kerr said the Warriors might be better served by waiting for injured players to return rather than making trades. “We’re not going to find better players than (Chris Paul and Gary Payton II) in a trade,” Kerr said. “It’s exceedingly rare to make a deal where you can upgrade your talent to that level.” Payton has been out since January 2 with a grade 2 left hamstring strain. Kerr also mentioned Moses Moody as another injured contributor. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets, Moody will miss this weekend’s back-to-back, but he has a chance to return on Monday after being out since January 10 due to a left calf strain. Dario Saric is also out for at least Friday, as he’s away from the team with an illness.
- After a major upset victory over the Celtics in Boston on Thursday without stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Lakers guard Austin Reaves said the team responded well to James’ frustrated comments about “doing their jobs,” which occurred after Tuesday’s lopsided loss to Atlanta (YouTube link). Reaves scored a season-high 32 points (on 10-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-10 from deep) in Thursday’s win.
- The Clippers had more total victories in December and January than any team in the NBA. Should they even make a trade? Law Murray of The Athletic explores that topic, writing that P.J. Tucker, Bones Hyland and Brandon Boston look to be the three most likely trade candidates, but L.A. may just stand pat.
- Tucker expressed frustration with his role — or lack thereof — in December, and nothing has changed since. However, he’s 39, doesn’t contribute much on offense, and holds a $11.54MM player option for 2024/25, which all hurt his trade value. According to Murray, the veteran forward has been a positive locker room presence, particularly for Russell Westbrook and James Harden, but the Clippers forward admits he’s trying to balance being a professional “while trying to get in a better situation for me, personally,” he told The Athletic. “It kind of is what it is at this point.” Tucker expressed skepticism about the possibility of turning down his player option, making him an unlikely buyout candidate. “That all depends on the situation, timing, where,” Tucker said. “It’s a lot of things that plays into that. I worked hard to be able to get myself in that position. The contract I got, the timing I got it, and all that … it means a lot and something I don’t take for granted. It’s definitely going to take a lot of thought and it’s going to take a real, real opportunity for me to have to go against that.”
Well neither Green nor Klay has positive trade value right now so that makes sense. Name the team who would give up a first round pick and can match salaries for the next 3 months of Klay that makes sense. If you are a Warriors fan you could dream up a scenario where Detroit is interested in Draymond but they aren’t taking on that contract and giving up anything that helps GS this year.
Klay is not getting traded because his contract is so bad nobody wants a old player making that much. Warriors need Green’s defense which is still top 10 defense. I highly doubt Warriors make any deals at trade deadline.
klay for herro and duncan.
jk, you clearly don’t know anything about Warriors fan.
Been one since Nate Thurmond played. Google will help there. “dream up” letting Draymond go to Detroit? Nightmare, not a dream.
Clippers outlook is very interesting , they won’t be able to aggregate salaries next year ( for a long while ) and that 2030 unprotected has quite a bit of value today and is going to be harder and harder to trade next year as well under apron 2 status
With an owner who doesn’t mind picking up the tab you could see a a nice deal swing there way here in next 5 Days –
Tucker Coffey and the 30 pick for someone like bogdanovic ( Atl ) or gafford is in range here
Why are Lakers so patient?
Trade DLo to Nets
Trade
That isn’t patience, it’s teams not wanting DLo.
Why would the Nets want DLo? Lol he sucks
Trade Lebron…trade AD. Tired of Lebron the GM runnign the show. Let’s get a roster of young energetic guys who can form their own identity. A team that will grow together and win.
Lakers are afraid to make a move. Keep depending on the refs to bail you out…
LOL
Tucker got that shoe addiction, he has to hold on until the contract is done.
Windhorst knows nothing about GSW’s decision making.