The start of free agency looked shaky for the Golden State Warriors when they lost veteran duo Chris Paul and Klay Thompson, and yet General Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office have pivoted nicely to set the team up in recent days.
De'Anthony Melton is a valuable two-way shooting guard who's proven himself capable as the fourth or fifth starter on a playoff team, Kyle Anderson is a crafty, versatile forward who will average 20 minutes a night, and no one has made more threes in the league over the last five years than Buddy Hield.
While you could argue that the Warriors have already improved this offseason, they're yet to land the big fish that suggests they'll be able to make significant inroads from their 10th place finish in the Western Conference last season.
The Golden State Warriors continue to search for a second star, with all eyes currently fixated on Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen
After failing in their attempts to land LeBron James and Mikal Bridges at February's mid-season deadline, and the LA Clippers unwilling to play ball with Paul George last week, Golden State's attention has turned to 2023 All-Star Lauri Markkanen.
The Utah Jazz forward is the buzz name circulating around the league right now, with speculation that this is the time Danny Ainge will finally cash in on his prized asset. Markkanen is a perfect fit for the Warriors -- a seven-foot forward who's averaged in excess of 23 points in each of the past two seasons on great efficiency, and who would unlock a number of front court combinations Steve Kerr can't access right now due to the lack of spacing.
Markkanen is also going to cost a lot, with the New York Knicks' recent acquisition of Mikal Bridges providing a decent blueprint of what to expect in a deal. The 27-year-old only makes $18 million next season so the finances aren't difficult as they were with George and others, yet Ainge is going to want the world from an asset standpoint.
In an article on Thursday, Clutch Points' Brett Siegel outlined three packages Golden State could offer to try and pry Markkanen out of Utah. Assuming the Jazz were to say yes, let's rank which one would be the best for the Warriors, starting with the least favorable.