The Golden State Warriors need a shooting big man on their roster.
That's been known throughout the entirety of the summer, and was once again a prominent issue in their preseason opener against the L.A. Clippers on Saturday where they shot 11-of-48 (22.9%) from three-point range as a team.
It's now been a long-running issue for the Warriors ever since the departure of Otto Porter Jr. following the 2022 championship. Golden State have tried to replace that type of player in numerous ways -- we've seen JaMychal Green and Dario Saric on the roster in the previous two seasons, they drafted Quinten Post with the 52nd overall pick in June, and the franchise was strongly linked to a trade for Lauri Markkanen before he renegotiated-and-extended his contract with the Utah Jazz.
The Warriors should be exploring a trade for Kelly Olynyk
Following Saturday's one-point win over the Clippers, Steve Kerr spoke about trying to get his best players on the floor together. To his credit, he tried a high upside starting lineup of Stephen Curry, De'Anthony Melton, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Kerr wants another big next to Green, but he also wants to start Kuminga. It's a complicated dynamic that wasn't overly effective against the Clippers, yet that won't stop Golden State from trying it over the remainder of the preseason.
“Obviously all three guys (Kuminga, Green and Jackson-Davis) are talented players, and you want to be able to play your best players together, but it has to click. We’ll keep trying," Kerr said after Saturday's game.
The need for a shooting big is obvious, even if can't be a star like Markkanen or the recently traded Karl-Anthony Towns. Enter Kelly Olynyk. He's someone we wrote about here on Sunday as a proven veteran the Warriors have had in the interest in during the past, and who could be realistically obtainable based on where the Toronto Raptors are going as an organization.
But what would it take to pry Olynyk out from his home-town team? Let's have a look at a potential trade between the two teams.