In just one day since the NBA has allowed trades, most of the Golden State Warriors’ potential targets are already gone.
Heading into the 2020 NBA offseason, the Golden State Warriors were expected to be one of the most active teams in the league. With a $17 million dollar trade exception, the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft and a number of expendable players – the Dubs seemed poised to make some moves.
While that still may be the case, the Warriors have sat back idly as some of their top trade targets have been shipped to other teams. And, for prices that they may have liked.
Robert Covington was sent to Portland in exchange for an aging Trevor Ariza and two first round picks. This is a package the Warriors certainly could have competed with if they felt impulsed to improve their perimeter defense with a 3-and-D talent like Covington.
Instead, Covington joins their competition and helps to improve a Blazers team that is on the fringe of being a contender. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns also took a step forward by acquiring Chris Paul and sending another one of the Dubs’ trade targets, Kelly Oubre, to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Whiffing on both Oubre and Covington this early into the offseason is a tough blow.
But, it didn’t stop there. The Dubs missed a chance to add an elite two-way guard in Jrue Holiday as the Milwaukee Bucks stuffed three first round draft picks into a deal with Eric Bledsoe and George Hill to acquire Holiday. The Bucks also stole Bojan Bogdanovic – a versatile three-level scoring forward who could have helped the Dubs bench.
As the rest of the league is rapidly working to improve their rosters, the Warriors have remained dormant. Will they make a move by draft night? Or will they hold onto their chips and focus on free agency? All we know is that the Warriors better act quickly before the rest of their targets disappear as well.