The Golden State Warriors continue to work through a messy Kristaps Porzingis situation, but their reported interest in New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi suggests they're eager to find a big man sooner rather than later.
The Warriors will ideally come out of this problematic situation with a legitimate rotation upgrade, and the lowly Pelicans continue to emerge as the ideal solution to addressing the Porzingis disaster.
Yves Missi interest provides ideal solution to Kristaps Porzingis mess
According to Pelicans insider Shamit Dua of In The N.O., the Warriors have already reached out about Missi in the wake of Porzingis' ongoing absence from the team and an increasing likelihood that he'll never play again.
"Teams have also continued to call on Pelicans center Yves Missi, and sources say the Golden State Warriors have recently made inquiry. The Pelicans, like with Jones, continue to rebuff offers, which have mostly been based around second round picks," Dua wrote.
Missi within himself is actually a great option for Golden State. If Steve Kerr is determined that their best five-man lineup includes Gui Santos (or eventually Jimmy Butler), Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green, they don't actually need any kind of star center.
What they do need is someone who can log minutes and take the burden off Green and Al Horford during the regular season. This is something Missi can certainly do at a higher level than Charles Bassey or Graham Ike. He also has higher upside as a 22-year-old, former first-round pick, having displayed that in the Pelicans season opener against the Indiana Pacers where Missi recorded 13 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks in 30 minutes of action.
Missi is also on his rookie contract for another season beyond this one, potentially giving Golden State a talented and young big man on a cost-controlled deal for the next 18 months. It makes plenty of sense, but even more so when you consider what else the Warriors could gain out of the deal.
Warriors could finally land Trey Murphy III trade
Porzingis' $20 million salary is significantly greater than Missi's $3.5 million deal, meaning other players would need to be involved in a trade. This is the perfect avenue to Golden State completing their long-running interest in Trey Murphy III -- a player they would still surely covet.
A deal sending out Porzingis and Moses Moody for Murphy and Missi makes perfect sense financially. It would just come down to how many picks would need to be involved, and whether the two teams can find an equal footing on that front.
Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray and even Jordan Poole are other players that could be involved, making the Pelicans an obvious trade partner for the Warriors to quickly and efficiently fix this Porzingis situation.
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