Last year, the Golden State Warriors were intrigued by top-three prospect James Wiseman. Wiseman had played three games at Memphis before leaving to prepare for the NBA, and he had a plethora of teams wanting his potential.
The big man had Chris Bosh-like promise, and after one season, that potential may still be there. And, if Detroit thinks that, they could get quite a packaged offered to them for the top pick in the upcoming draft.
The Golden State Warriors have the assets to offer a package for the top overall pick, and they should at least consider it.
Detroit was among the teams in which drafting Wiseman would’ve made perfect sense.
They lost Christian Wood to the Houston Rockets and started their rebuild with Jerami Grant. Now, it’s unlikely they even consider the offer if they’re enamored by Cade Cunningham.
The feel as of now is that most teams widely considering Cunningham the best and most NBA-ready prospect in the draft. This isn’t like last year where the top pick will be highly contentious.
Cunningham should be the selection, whether Detroit is picking at No. 1 or any other team. Well, for Golden State, they should want to jump up to either draft Cunningham or use the pick to trade for a superstar like Bradley Beal or Pascal Siakam.
Nonetheless, if Detroit is willing to listen to James Wiseman, the No. 7 and 14 picks and then another first-round pick, then Golden State needs to be making the call to consider that.
When looking to consider a trade like this one, NBC Sports’ Josh Schrock answered why Cunningham would make a quintessential fit from the start and potentially boost the Warriors title chances.
"In short, Cunningham would be a great fit with the Warriors. He’s the type of win-now prospect who the Warriors can continue building around in the post-Curry era."
At the end of the day, Golden State needs to be doing what they can to put a team that can contend on the court.
The Big 3 only have so many prime years left, and Cunningham, much more than Wiseman and a combination of Moses Moody and Davion Mitchell, helps the Warriors get to that level.
Right now, it doesn’t appear the Pistons are going to move the top overall pick, but as we near the late-July draft, it’ll be interesting which of these teams looking to trade back actually find a deal they value.
The Warriors, regardless of if its for a more valuable pick or just to draft a top-6 prospect, should look to be a team willing to make a blockbuster deal in the next couple of weeks.