The Golden State Warriors need to trade Jonathan Kuminga. And there’s nothing Kuminga wants more. But that’s been the case for a while now. However, now that Kuminga is officially trade eligible, some potential landing spots are coming out of the woodwork. And one could be perfect: The Dallas Mavericks
According to Anthony Slater and Shams Charania of ESPN, the Mavs are one of two teams (the Sacramento Kings being the other) showing a potential interest in Kuminga. And if the Warriors were to trade Kuminga to the Mavs, there should only be one player on their minds: Anthony Davis.
That should be the goal.
Mavericks interest in Jonathan Kuminga could help facilitate Anthony Davis trade
Obviously, a trade for Davis is imperfect. It’s the definition of imperfect, actually. He’s hurt right now, so he won’t be able to give the Warriors an immediate punch, and his injury history is insane.
Plus, he makes a lot of money, so it could get hard to build around Stephen Curry in the short-term. That definitely wouldn’t be ideal, considering they only have so many years of Curry left.
But that’s the point.
The Warriors have a very small window to win another championship with Curry at the helm. In reality, they probably only have one or two years left with him as their top guy.
Davis is the ultimate boom or bust option. If he doesn’t play, it would be a relative disaster. The Warriors would have to roll with the current core and only get Davis whenever he can muster up the health to get on the court.
But if he does manage to get even a little bit healthy, even if it were only for a single playoff run, it could be exactly what the Warriors need to compete in a stacked Western Conference.
With Curry, Davis, and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors would have a legitimate chance at taking down some of the top teams in the West. Because when Davis is healthy, he’s one of, if not the best, two-way players in the NBA.
Davis’ defense is exactly what the Warriors would need to slow down someone like Nikola Jokic, and his offense is exactly what they would need to complement Curry, who has been doing way too much for way too long.
Perhaps it would backfire. Perhaps they would have given up Kuminga for nothing because Davis can’t stay on the court.
But if he did manage to get healthy, even for just a little while, it could be the perfect risk.