Ranking 3 Proposed Lauri Markkanen Trades for the Golden State Warriors

3. Warriors give up their best young asset for Markkanen

The biggest question mark right now is whether the Warriors are going to be willing to give up Jonathan Kuminga in a trade for Lauri Markkanen. According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne earlier in the week, the front office was reluctant to give up the 21-year-old for 9x All-Star Paul George in a deal with the Clippers.

Would things be different with Markkanen as a player seven years George's junior? Perhaps that could be the case, with Siegel proposing the following trade:

There's no doubt Golden State are craving another star next to two-time MVP Stephen Curry, yet adding Kuminga alongside two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps would be a whole new degree of desperation.

Markkanen's really good, he's a better player than Kuminga right now, and he's a better fit on this team given his shooting prowess. But despite all this, there's an argument to be made that Kuminga has a chance to be just as good within the next couple of years. Perhaps there's only a 15-20% chance of that happening, but it's plausible nonetheless.

That's the risk that you take with trading Kuminga -- it could really come back to bite you within a short span of time. For as good as Markkanen is, he's not an absolute bonafide top 10, perhaps not even top 20 player in the league.

Walker Kessler is a valuable piece in this deal, having impressed as a seven-foot shot-blocker in his two years to date. As much as his seven-foot presence may be very useful, he would add to a plethora of non-shooting (at least not respected) power forward/centers that already includes Draymond Green, Kyle Anderson, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kevon Looney.

When it really comes to the crux of it, Golden State are going to struggle to give up Kuminga. They may ultimately do it, but surely not while also losing control of four future first-round picks and fellow 2021 lottery pick Moses Moody.