Chicago Bulls‘ former All-Star center Nikola Vučević is widely reported on top of the Golden State Warriors‘ trade target list.
SNY’s David Vertsberger proposed a three-team trade where the Warriors could land Vučević by helping the New York Knicks break down Mitchell Robinson‘s contract into two veterans who could solve their depth issue and provide salary cap relief in the offseason.
Golden State Warriors receive: Nikola Vučević
New York Knicks receive: Kevon Looney, Kyle Anderson
Chicago Bulls receive: Mitchell Robinson, Jericho Sims, Gary Payton II
“Looney is a dependable five who does all the little things that would open up doors for this team: screening, boxing out, and rebounding. Anderson has been in and out of the rotation but is a veteran wing who can impact the game in a variety of ways,” Vertsberger wrote.
The emergence of rookie center Quinten Post over the Warriors’ last two games makes Looney, who is on an expiring $8 million contract, expendable. Post showed what the Warriors’ offense could look like with a stretch five.
They have scored over 117 points in back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks with Post making 6-of-14 three-pointers over their last two games.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr wanted to have a stretch five like Post or Vučević to open up the floor more for Stephen Curry.
“He picks and pops,” Kerr told reporters about Post. “That means the other team’s big guy has to go with him. That means that the defender’s not in the paint. Steph (Curry) was the happiest guy in the building tonight with all that room to work with. The game got a lot easier for all of our guys.”
Quiten Post Outplayed Nikola Vučević
Interestingly, Post hit five threes against Vučević en route to a career-high 20 points.
The Warriors’ 52nd overall pick was the best center on the floor on Thursday, January 23, as the Warriors crushed the Bulls 131-106.
If this was Vučević’s audition for the Warriors, it was a disappointment of epic proportions as he only had nine points on 4-of-9 shooting and six rebounds while also netting minus-15 on the plus-minus column.
According to Marc Spears of Andscape, the Warriors prefer to trade for Vučević than Miami Heat‘s disgruntled star Jimmy Butler.
“I’m hearing that the Warriors literally want to go bigger than Jimmy Butler, and what I mean by that is they’re one of the most undersized teams in the league,” Spears said on the January 7 episode of the “NBA Today” on ESPN. “So they’re trying to get a big guy to go alongside Draymond Green. People on their list include Nikola Vučević, who has probably been the top guy on that list.”
It’s unclear if Post’s breakthrough performance and Vučević’s poor outing have an impact on the Warriors’ thinking with only two weeks away from the trade deadline. Post is on a two-way contract so he’s not eligible to play in the postseason unless the Warriors convert it to a standard rookie deal.
If the Warriors proceed to trade for Vučević, they could start him with Post as his backup with Trayce Jackson-Davis sliding as Draymond Green‘s backup at power forward.
Quinten Post’s Rapid Development
Post is no ordinary rookie in today’s NBA. He’s more NBA-ready than most of his peers.
“He played five years of college basketball,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s an old-school rookie. Guys 25 years ago came in ready to play because they played all that college ball and got that foundation under him. That’s Quinten.”
Kerr has also credited the Santa Cruz Warriors’ role in fast-tracking Post’s understanding of their system. Kerr’s son Nick is the head coach of Santa Cruz, where Post dropped two 30-point outings and a 27-point game earlier this month.
“Then the biggest thing over the last couple months in Santa Cruz is the staff there did a great job of working him defensively,” Kerr continued. “That was our biggest concern at the beginning of the season. Could he guard pick-and-roll? Could he get out on the perimeter? Could he be up to the level of the screen and get back into the paint? You saw that tonight.”
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