If other teams are offering No. 1 overall picks for Anthony Davis, the Golden State Warriors might not stand a chance at acquiring the star. Right now, that seems to be the case, as NBA insider Marc Stein recently reported that the Atlanta Hawks are likely willing to trade 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher in a Davis deal. From December 28th:
...Increasingly believed that Atlanta is willing to surrender Zaccharie Risacher in the proverbial right scenario ... Yet even if the Hawks are prepared to package Risacher with the expiring contracts held by Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kennard for Davis, it is unclear how much additional draft compensation they would be willing (or able) to add to the deal to convince the Dallas Mavericks part with Davis in-season..."
Granted, Risacher is the least exciting No. 1 pick from the past 10 years a team could acquire. The only reason Atlanta is willing to include him in this deal is that his play has been pretty disappointing in year two. His scoring is down to 10.7 points per game, his shooting percentages haven't improved much, and he doesn't look any more assertive on the court.
But he's just 20 years old and possesses plenty of upside —plus the shine of being the top pick in last year's draft. Atlanta trading Trae Young was probably never realistic, but Atlanta being willing to part with any of their young assets already shows that the Warriors might have some competition in trading for Anthony Davis.
Warriors will have to outbid other teams for Anthony Davis
Importantly, Stein notes that the Hawks might not be willing to add much outside of Risacher, so that package from Atlanta would come down to the Hawks hoping the idea of Risacher still appeals to the Mavs, and perhaps the idea of pairing two straight No. 1 picks together in a hypothetically exciting young 1-2 punch.
How can the Warriors counter that? Probably by including a young player (or two) of their own. Risacher is still on his rookie deal, so he's under team control for many years. That's a pretty big luxury and something the Warriors would probably need to compensate for by adding an extra draft pick or two for the Mavs.
I would be shocked if this deal ended up involving Jimmy Butler. That's just my gut feeling, but how much better is this Warriors team if they add AD but subtract Jimmy? That improvement is not enough to get this team into championship contention. Thus, the trade (which will need a third team) will likely include lots of young talent. Now it's just up to the Warriors to make sure their young talent offer is more impressive than one that includes last year's top draft pick.