The Golden State Warriors desperately need to make a trade.
That is true no matter what you conclude about the true talent level of the team, or whether you believe this group can catch fire around Stephen Curry if the right player is added. The status quo is leading to as many losses as victories and is pulling down the entire morale of the team.
When the Warriors pull together a win they sound exhausted. When they lose they sound defeated. Something about the current roster, the current mix, has to change for the Warriors moving forward, whether that is changing the role players or trying to land that second star.
The Warriors need to trade for a second star
Increasingly with each game, however, the need for a second star is apparent. Curry is laboring against double teams and face-guarding to get up enough shots to keep the Warriors alive, but there has to be a second option to run the offense when he sits and play off of him down the stretch of games. A clear and obvious trade candidate has not emerged, but that may be because the Warriors are not yet desperate enough.
That desperation may come soon, as the losses pile up and the Western Conference standings get increasingly tight. The Warriors picked up a win on Thursday night on the road, but it was a white-knuckled three-point victory where if the game had gone another two or three minutes the Detroit Pistons may have finished the comeback. Prior to that, the Warriors were roundly clobbered by the Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat, both teams playing without their best players.
There have been two primary barriers to the Warriors making a trade for a second star, be that Zach LaVine or Brandon Ingram or Jimmy Butler. The first is that there have been warts with each potential option, from contract situation to injury history to temperament.
The other is that the Warriors have been unwilling to give up Jonathan Kuminga in a trade. The fourth-year forward continues to show flashes of offensive brilliance and has strung together some potent scoring nights this season, setting new career highs and single-handedly propelling the team to multiple victories.
At the same time, Steve Kerr still cannot find it in his heart to start him consistently; if he is the team's second or third most important player, why is he not in the starting lineup? What's more, Kuminga continues to show the frustrating lapses of a player who is better suited (at least right now) to 82 games, not 16, as Draymond Green would say.
The Warriors hate to give up on their own young talent, confident in their evaluation and development. They don't want to trade a young Klay Thompson for Kevin Love, if you will; they stood pat back then and were rewarded with a Hall of Famer.
Yet Kuminga is no Klay Thompson, nor is he going to provide All-Star level impact for the Warriors this season, when the organization need him. When Stephen Curry needs him. Could he develop into such a player down the line? It's certainly possible, and that tantalizing possibility is why the Warriors have not included him in trade offers for veteran win-now stars.
That same potential is also why the Warriors need to move him now, to capitalize on making him the centerpiece of a trade to bring back a player ready to step up and carry the torch next to Curry. Perhaps they trade Kuminga and he explodes into a star, but he's not going to be the cornerstone of the next Warriors' dynasty once Curry retires, and they need to do more to maximize competing with one of the 12 best players in NBA history right now.
Did Kuminga already play his last game for the Warriors?
Kuminga is currently out of the lineup with an ankle injury that should keep him out at least another couple of weeks. That carries him most of the way to the February 6th Trade Deadline. Is it possible the pressure for the Warriors builds enough that they make a move before he returns? Could they reach a level of desperation and find the right trade partner that it all comes together before Kuminga even steps foot back on the court for them?
That seems to be in play, and probably should be in play. He likely won't increase his trade value in a week or two of games working back into form from a bad ankle injury. He may not decrease it, but he had a couple of big outings right before his injury, and that would be a fine last impression to leave for teams as the Warriors negotiate.
It's possible the Warriors convince themselves again to keep Kuminga. It's possible there is not a star trade available to them that they are comfortable making. It's possible they decide their ceiling is so low even with a big trade that it's not worth throwing away assets.
If the Warriors do make a trade, however -- as it seems like they have to -- it could mean a new home for Jonathan Kuminga. If that happens, the seventh overall pick in 2021 will have already played his last minutes for the Golden State Warriors.