Things can turn very quickly in the NBA. Less than 72 hours ago the Golden State Warriors were riding high on a seven-game winning streak, only to since lose Brandon Williams and now franchise superstar Stephen Curry to injury.
The Warriors' winning streak was giving the front office patience and subsequent leverage as they explore trades utilizing Kristaps Porzingis' contract, but Curry's injury may have erased that as the team deals with an even further short-handed rotation than what they already entered the season with.
Stephen Curry may have cost Warriors their trade leverage
With four games still remaining on their road trip, Golden State could easily lose the momentum they'd built following an 0-3 start to the season. Rival teams could therefore prey on a level of desperation that may re-emerge not just through Curry's injury, but because the Warriors are legitimately running out of healthy bodies in the rotation.
If Curry misses time and Gary Payton II doesn't return from his knee issue, Golden State would be down to nine healthy main roster players. Of those nine players, Gui Santos is managing a knee issue and Will Richard is playing through a torn UCL in his thumb. Not to mention veterans Al Horford and Draymond Green will miss one side of next week's back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies.
Suddenly resolving the Porzingis situation feels like something the front office needs to do as soon as possible. They would like to make a trade before December 16 to retain the flexibility to re-aggregate salaries before the mid-season deadline, but that should be secondary to the priority of retaining their on-court form.
There's also the issue of their short-handed rotation placing unfair burden on those who are available. Santos and Richard arguably shouldn't be playing right now, while youngsters Yaxel Lendeborg and Brandin Podziemski were tasked with playing over 36 minutes each on Wednesday night.
Warriors could have over $150 million on the sidelines
Between Curry, Jimmy Butler, Porzingis and Moses Moody, Golden State could have over $150 million on the sidelines across the next few games. How can the Warriors (or any team for that matter) possibly survive and win games within that context?
They'll likely struggle as a result, leaving more pressure on Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office to make an imminent Porzingis trade that delivers a valuable rotation contributor in the short-term, while also being a piece that fits with the healthy version of this team.
The issue is other teams will know exactly that, and there won't be any rival general managers around the league who will be eager to help the Warriors and their situation unless it truly benefits them.
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