Golden State Warriors: Who is Stephen Curry’s backup?

As the Golden State Warriors prepare for the 2020-21 season, they have a few issues to iron out before they plan to compete with the Lakers and Clippers.

Ahead of a possible return to championship contention, the Warriors have a few minor holes that need addressing and perhaps the biggest is finding a secondary ball-handler and backup point guard to Stephen Curry.

As it stands, Golden State has Jordan Poole and Ky Bowman on the roster to back up Curry, but that will likely change. Leaving two players who have limited NBA experience to share the backup role is a risky move the Warriors should look to avoid.

Despite the shortened season, both Bowman and Poole failed to establish themselves as a clear cut No.2 option. That leaves the question as to whether Steve Kerr will trust either with the role on a championship team.

After a promising start to the season, Bowman’s production dipped significantly, and eventually lost his starting role to Poole, prior to the March shutdown.

Although Poole showed significant improvement as a facilitator in 2020, he has more of a build of a shooting guard and may still feature prominently there. Plus with limited experience at the NBA level at the position, the Warriors will likely seek a more experienced option.

Therefore it wouldn’t be shocking to see Golden State pursue a ball-handler with either the trade exception or the second overall pick in the 2020 draft.

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Golden State could find significant value with the trade exception and an immediate difference-maker to bolster their championship hopes.

Dennis Schroder, Ricky Rubio, Eric Bledsoe, and Tomas Satoransky could be all be acquired with the trade exception and would make suitable replacements in the event of an injury to the two-time MVP.

The Warriors would likely need to attach a protected first-round draft pick in order for the Thunder to even entertain dealing Schroder. Although with the Thunder considering trading Chris Paul, a move for Schroder could be on the cards as they look to add further draft capital to their war chest.

As for the options in the draft, the Warriors are reportedly not interested in LaMelo Ball so that would mean the Dubs will need to trade down to find their backup.

Tyrese Halliburton has been touted, and his coach at Iowa State believes he would be a strong fit in Golden State’s team. Halliburton has already been compared to former Warriors player Shaun Livingston interestingly and could fulfill a similar role.

However, Golden State could yet look at the trade market. According to reports, they are one of a number of teams interested in New Orleans Pelicans star Jrue Holiday. Holiday would bring that secondary ball handing and superb perimeter defense in abundance.

Although it would be shocking to see the Warriors splash the cash to bring Holiday to the Bay, I wouldn’t count it out just yet though.

Regardless of current world events and how that’ll impact the NBA offseason, Golden State has a number of options when it comes to improving point guard depth.