Sources: Warriors casting wide net ahead of NBA trade deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – With the NBA trade deadline roughly 60 hours away, Golden State’s front office personnel was operating with more fury and persistence than the Warriors on the court during an atrocious first half Monday night.
Golden State, the NBA’s No. 3 rebounding team, was minus-12 on the glass against an Orlando Magic team that ranks 28th in that category. The Warriors, shooting 21.7 percent from the field in the first quarter and 36.6 percent for the half, were fortunate to enter the locker room with the game tied 43-43.
After gathering themselves and locating their missing moxie, the Warriors blasted out of the second half with an 18-6 run, taking their first lead of the night, and then staved off Orlando’s fourth-quarter surge to hang on for a 104-99 victory.
“We woke up,” said Kerr, who provided the first alarm by breaking a clipboard in the second quarter. “We were asleep in the first half. We had some possessions that made no sense. The guys locked in at halftime.”
The win put the Warriors (25-24) back above .500, but general manager Mike Dunleavy and CEO Joe Lacob surely consider such a record well beneath what’s expected of a team with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on the roster.
“He’s probably one of the most outspoken – if not the most outspoken – [team governor],” Green said of Lacob after the game. “In saying that, we all know that he’s pissed sitting at .500. You’ll be a fool to sit back and think everything is OK. Not with that guy. That guy is always trying to win. He’s always pushing the envelope as much as he can.”
Kerr agrees. In his pregame news conference, the coach revisited comments he made Friday before a 130-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns, when he said the Warriors weren’t good enough to “stand pat” while approaching the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
“The deadline speeds things up,” Kerr said. “It has a way of making teams make their best offer. I know Mike is talking to everybody and on the phones talking about potential deals. That’s his job. As I said the other night, if there’s something that makes sense, that can make us better, Mike is going to do it.
“My point the other night was when you’re .500 you don’t reserve the right to stay pat and say, ‘We’re going to stand pat. We’re fine.’ We’re not fine. We’re .500, in 10th or 11th place in the West. So, we’ve got to look at everything.
“But you don’t chase bad deals, either. If there’s nothing there, there’s nothing there. And we move forward.”
By several league sources and numerous reports, the Warriors are casting a wide net in their hunt for another star.
Their search, it seems, is intensifying after the two blockbuster trades over the weekend. The Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis on Saturday, followed on Sunday by trades that sent Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs and Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls to the Kings.
The Warriors, per sources, are focused mostly on obtaining frontcourt talent. They were dominated in the paint Friday by Phoenix big men Nick Richards and Mason Plumlee, neither of whom is a star, but they combined for 24 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks. They were beaten on the glass Monday 52-45.
Golden State’s interest in Bulls center Nikola Vučević is well known and expected to continue, but the front office has reached out to numerous other teams, with sources citing the New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz. The general feeling around the NBA is that the Warriors want to improve the cast around Curry, retain Green and that they remain reluctant to part with Jonathan Kuminga – who has considerable trade value.
The rest of the roster, it is believed, can be moved for the right return.
“We always want to try to get better, and we feel like we should have a better record, especially with our start,” Curry said. “The narratives around our team are so many because of the standard we’ve set, because we’ve won championships, because me and Draymond and [Kevon Looney]. We’re trying to get back to that level while we still have years to play. Everything is heightened. There’s a sense of urgency.
“But you have to understand that everybody here needs to play better, regardless of what happens this week, regardless of what situation we find ourselves in. I don’t want that to get lost. We have accountability in this locker room. I don’t think anybody has played up to their standard.
“You take that with the fact that every team is trying to get better. When you say you want to win and you work like you want to win, as long as I’m in here that should be the goal.”
The Warriors believe they are better than their record. They are not. As trade deadline looms, it’s apparent they’re willing to explore every attractive option – with few constraints – to assemble a roster capable of taking them to a higher level.
