The Golden State Warriors have the pieces in place to add future assets at the 2021 deadline if they want to call the season over in March.
Much like last season, many are expecting the Golden State Warriors to be sellers at the 2021 trade deadline after realizing playoff aspirations may not come to fruition. While that might not be the case, there’s no denying it’s a possibility.
The Warriors, prior to their sixth game of the season against the Sacramento Kings, were 3-3. They had two wins over weaker Eastern Conference teams in games that went down to the wire and they had three ugly losses to teams that will contend for a title this coming season.
They clearly weren’t on the same page as those teams. Although they added Kelly Oubre Jr. this offseason, the void left by Klay Thompson‘s injury is just one that Oubre and company won’t be able to fill.
That’s why Bleacher Report labeled the Warriors as sellers in a recent piece regarding “10 realistic predictions for the 2021 trade deadline.” The article was written by Greg Swartz. One of those 10 predictions was that the Warriors would be sellers.
“Kudos to Golden State for spending money and taking a chance on Oubre to replace Thompson, but this is a Warriors team that doesn’t even look playoff-worthy,” Swartz ended the section on Golden State with.
Oubre Jr. is the likely selling piece. He just hasn’t been good with the Warriors. Through five games, he’s averaging under half of what he did last season with the Suns. Now, the confidence is still there, so the hope that he rebounds is still alive.
But, it’s fading as he continues to struggle from the field. He must be better. As for others, players like Kevon Looney and Brad Wanamaker also make sense as potential targets for other teams. Andrew Wiggins, if a team can take on his contract, may be traded as well.
The best scenario is that Golden State figures their issues against stronger opponents out and can manage to win a few of these games here and there. For now, that looks more and more unlikely as even Stephen Curry is struggling to find his rhythm.