Despite a late season surge that saw them reach the second-round of the NBA playoffs, the Golden State Warriors know they can't sit idle with a roster built around the veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
Yet with so many dollars tied up in those three players, the Warriors hopes of landing another sizeable, difference-making piece is limited. Fortunately, the financial issues of another rival team could gift them the perfect opportunity to take a big swing this offseason.
The Warriors could capitalize on the Celtics situation
Ever since their own second-round playoff elimination and the disastrous torn achilles injury to Jayson Tatum, speculation and intrigue has mounted on what the Boston Celtics will do this offseason.
With the payroll headed above the second tax apron but the franchise unlikely to contend next season due to Tatum's injury, something may have to give in regard to one or multiple of their key players.
This is what makes Boston an obvious next trade partner for Golden State, with Anthony Slater of The Athletic suggesting to monitor the Celtics situation on the latest episode of the Warriors Plus Minus podcast.
"I'm very curios Boston's eventual direction here. Their desire to shed salary and they've obviously got a lot of pieces that could feel like what the Warriors believe is the final piece of a contender," Slater said. "That's a team I'm monitoring particularly with the Warriors."
Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White were both identified as obvious potential fits for the Warriors, both of who would provide more spacing for a team that significantly struggled following Curry's hamstring injury in the second-round against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Porzingis is set to make $30.7 million on the final year of his contract, but is likely to cost far less from an asset standpoint in a trade. The Latvian's injury and health history is well chronicled, having appeared in just 42 games this season before dealing with a mystery illness in the playoffs that rendered him nearly unplayable.
White is about to start a four-year, $118 million contract, but would presumably cost far more in terms of future picks and/or young players. The 6'4" guard is coming off a career-best scoring season where he averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, shooting 38.4% on over nine 3-point attempts per game and even generating All-Star selection buzz given his two-way impact.
The 7'3" Porzingis would arguably fill more of a hole given Golden State's uncertainty around the center position, though White would likely have more impact in Steve Kerr's system and with his far greater durability.
It's still going to be difficult for the Warriors to execute a deal for Porzingis or White, but the Celtics uncertainty and their host of valuable players makes them a clear candidate to be a trade partner this summer.