The Golden State Warriors have made a simple but effective move in acquiring Dennis Schroder, with the franchise giving up the injured De'Anthony Melton and three second-round picks for the veteran guard and one second-round pick.
Flipping Melton for Schroder had become an obvious deal to make over the last couple of weeks, but with the Brooklyn Nets incentivized to accelerate their rebuild, there was more on the table that the Warriors could have looked at.
The Warriors reportedly turned down an expanded deal with the Nets
ESPN's Shams Charania had reported Golden State's interest in all three of Schroder, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith earlier in the week, yet turned down the possibility of bringing in multiple players from Brooklyn.
"The sides also discussed Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith in larger structures of a possible trade, but the Warriors preferred to maintain their young talent and keep this initial trade a simple swap that filled a need," Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported on Saturday.
Evan Sidery of Forbes suggested that Golden State rejected a proposed deal featuring Johnson for Jonathan Kuminga, leading to a myriad of frustration from some Warrior fans who believe that's a move they should have entertained.
It simply makes no sense for the Warriors to hold onto Kuminga instead of flipping him to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson with Steph Curry’s window closing. Johnson is a better player, better fit, and is already under contract on a salary much cheaper than what Kuminga is looking for. pic.twitter.com/m9vHVa8g1a
— Chris Polo (@ChrisPolo__) December 15, 2024
And yet the Dubs wouldn't turn Kuminga into Cam Johnson. Hope that pays off for us. Looks like a massive mistake to me.
— The Sage (@LordOberstein) December 15, 2024
Cam Johnson out there with Wiggins is like having nearly 2 Wiggins out there at the same time.
Now Kuminga has so much leverage over us in contract extensions that he can basically get whatever he wants.
— Dr. Artocarpus (@DrArtocarpus) December 14, 2024
If we passed up Cam Johnson, a legit player for him, we can’t lose him for nothing. Sunk Cost Fallacy.
One important note in any hypothetical Kuminga-for-Johnson trade -- the Brooklyn forward makes $16 million more than Kuminga, meaning it's hard to evaluate and honestly be critical of the decision without knowing what else would have been involved.
Regardless, you can make a strong argument in either direction. Johnson as the more experienced proven player may be better for the Warriors right now, having averaged 18.5 points on 43.1% shooting from 3-point range this season.
Golden State could certainly do with more shooting, particularly at the 6'8" height at which Johnson stands. Perhaps the biggest argument is that his $45 million over the next two seasons is likely to be less than what Kuminga commands as a restricted free agent in the offseason.
For all of that, Kuminga's upside is still tantalizing and most would suggest his potential sits higher than what Johnson is as a high-end role player but someone who's unlikely to ever make an All-Star team. The Warriors are finally exploring where that potential truly lies, with the former seventh overall pick now given a starting role having played 28 or more minutes in six of his last seven games.
Perhaps the Warriors get to early February and decide that Kuminga isn't the player they want to pay upwards of $150 million to during the offseason. Maybe then the two sides could reconvene on a Kuminga-Johnson trade at that point, but until then the front office clearly wanted to orchestrate a deal that comes with little risk associated.