After a summer in which the Golden State Warriors pretty much stood pat on a roster that was knocked around by injuries and wound up with a 37-win record and an ouster in the play-in tournament, frustration among the team’s fan base is running high. The only discernable plan for the team was to try to lure LeBron James in free agency, a plan that the team apparently felt had little hope of succeeding all along. Stephen Curry will turn 38 next season, and could be a free agent next summer.
The front office, though, is not showing much urgency in putting together a roster.
The Warriors have tools to be more active on the trade market, but the issue is, using those tools is unlikely to make the team good enough to truly contend in the West, especially with an array of health questions on the roster–both Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are rehabbing knee surgeries, Curry himself is still getting over a late-season bout of runner’s knee and Kristaps Porzingis is iffy every game.
But there is a timeline, it seems, of what the Warriors might see that would inspire them to pull the trigger on a big move.
Stephen Curry Must Stay Healthy
That’s according to Anthony Slater, the Warriors’ beat writer for ESPN. Speaking on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco on Thursday morning, he said that it is wrong to assume Golden State will not trade picks to bolster the team now. But trading picks for a team that can’t stay healthy would be foolish.
If the Warriors’ young players show promise and the veterans get and stay healthy, a move could be coming.
Said Slater: “For Stephen Curry, moving forward, I think what is most important for him is to make sure that knee and body are as right as possible as he enters his age 38 season. Try to be as healthy and productive early on as possible. I think collectively as a team, Steve Kerr mentioned, there is some belief they can have some internal growth and maybe even surprise early in the season.
“And I think the better they are in the first couple months, the healthier Steph Curry looks, the more likely it is that this front office can be convinced to trade to try and upgrade the roster.”
Warriors Could Be Active at Trade Deadline
Now, all of that might sound too hope-based to persuade Warriors fans out of their state of frustration. It requires the Warriors to get lucky with some young players, stay healthy and get their current guys back.
But, Slater said, that is pretty much how Curry sees things. The front office will let the season unfold, and perhaps a trade will follow.
Slater continued: “As Jimmy Butler gets closer and closer to a return, as Moses Moody gets closer and closer to a return, as they have a lot of expiring deals and they still have some tools out there, maybe Yaxel Lendeborg takes a leap—that is the theory, if you’re Steph and you want to take the optimistic approach. And Steph is an optimistic guy. What can he do? If you get closer to the deadline, maybe you do something, maybe you don’t, but I think they will be further motivated if the team looks like they’re not just fading into the abyss.
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