Warriors may have been fortunate in failed trade for All-Defensive guard

Aside from a minor move that saw Cory Joseph head to the Indiana Pacers, the Golden State Warriors stood pat and retained the core of their roster at last season's trade deadline.

That wasn't through a lack of desire though, with a recent report hinting that the Warriors thought they had a trade in place with the Chicago Bulls for now Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso.

The Warriors may have been fortunate not to acquire Alex Caruso

In a new piece for The Stein Line on Friday covering Chicago's trade activity, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that Golden State were prepared to give up multiple first-round picks for the defensive-minded guard.

"Golden State believed it nearly had a deal for Caruso before the 2024 deadline buzzer sounded, sources said, which would have delivered multiple first-round picks to Chicago," Fischer wrote.

While Caruso could have aided the Warriors' playoff hopes to close last season, the franchise are probably fortunate that the the Bulls were unwilling to accept their offer. Instead of giving up multiple first-round picks for Caruso, Golden State were able to lure De'Anthony Melton as a similarly impactful, starting-level guard in free agency.

It's just unfortunate that Melton is now out for the season with an ACL injury, having appeared like a perfect fit next to Stephen Curry in the Warrior back court. As good as Caruso is defensively, that's not really Golden State's issue right now as they rank fifth on that end of the floor compared to ninth in offensive rating.

After seemingly rejecting the Warriors' offer at the deadline, the Bulls sent Caruso to the Thunder in a straight swap for young point guard Josh Giddey during the offseason. The 30-year-old has helped Oklahoma City to the best defense in the NBA, but his offense has been far less impressive in averaging just 5.0 points on a paltry 35.6% shooting from the floor and 20.5% from 3-point range.

As much as Caruso may have been an option to be starting right now alongside Curry in the back court, those shooting numbers would make it far less viable given the spacing issues that already exist between Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

The Warriors are arguably in a better spot now with almost all of their array of future first-round picks in hand, allowing them to go and explore other moves ahead of this deadline that could have a bigger impact than if Caruso was on the roster.