Ranking 3 recent Warriors trade proposals from least disastrous to most disastrous

New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors
New Orleans Pelicans v Golden State Warriors / Ezra Shaw/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next

2. Warriors find their stretch big and new starting center

Trade #1

All-Star level Nikola Vucevic would make perfect sense for this Warrior roster that currently lacks spacing in the front court. Unfortunately the 33-year-old is no longer that player, albiet he still put up 18 points per game with the Chicago Bulls last season.

The question with Vucevic is whether the offensive skillset is worth the defensive concerns, particularly when he's still slated to make $41.5 million over the next two seasons. The further time goes on, the less valuable he's appearing as a genuine starting center on a team with deep playoff aspirations.

The defensive issues are always going to be there, and perhaps they'd even be mitigated somewhat next to Draymond Green at Golden State. But that's not worth it if Vucevic is going to shoot less than 32% from beyond the arc like he has in two of the last three years, including just 29.4% from deep last season.

Wiggins may not hold much value league-wide right now, but there's no way the Warriors should deal the 2022 All-Star for Vucevic in any trade. Period. Carter and Craig would bring some defensive elements, yet they're fringe role players rather than the key rotation pieces Wiggins and Jackson-Davis are.

How about an alternative proposition -- Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II and Moses Moody for Vucevic and Craig? Even then it's not an overly exciting trade that's likely to be a real difference-maker for the Warriors, with the franchise needing to aim higher than someone like Vucevic who's at best a third or fourth scoring option.