If you watched any of the Golden State Warrior’s last two games, you probably noticed one thing, Stephen Curry needs help. He was faced with constant double teams, especially in clutch situations where both the Lakers and Grizzlies forced anybody else on the Warriors to shoot the ball. With the Warriors headed into the offseason, they have some decisions to make. Steph Curry is 33 years old and is coming off an MVP caliber season (although he most likely won’t win the award). If the Warriors want to maximize Steph’s prime, now is the time to upgrade the roster.
Stephen Curry Needs Help
Trading James Wiseman and Others
One of the fastest ways the Warriors can upgrade their team is by trading last year’s number two pick James Wiseman. Perhaps no other rookie had a more disappointing season than Wiseman. After being a potential rookie of the year candidate, Wiseman went on to average 11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in 21.4 minutes before tearing his meniscus. While the handling of Wiseman is another argument, there’s no doubt that he is a project that will take time to develop. With Steph Curry needing a win-now team, the Warriors should do what they should have done a year ago and try to flip the number two pick (Wiseman) for a star. Since Wiseman is on his rookie deal, involving a player like Andrew Wiggins ($31.5 million) next year in the deal or a sign and trade with Kelly Oubre makes the most sense.
Klay Thompson Uncertainty
Klay Thompson is a legend in the bay area. He is a part of the big three along with Steph Curry and Draymond Green that makes the Warriors who they are. But the year 2021 is a different story. After tearing his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals, Thompson missed the entire 2019-20 NBA season. Then this past November, Thompson tore his Achilles right before the season started which caused him to miss this season. With Thompson now missing the past two seasons, it’s easy to question how good he will be at age 31 coming off of two major lower-body surgeries. While the Warriors would probably never trade Thompson, this is just another reason why the Warriors need to upgrade their roster for next season despite his impending return.
Timberwolves 2021 First Round Pick
Last season, the Warriors traded D’Angelo Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and their 2021 first-round pick (top-three protected). The Wolves’ plans with this trade were to compete for this season. However, they were devastated by injuries this year. At one point they had the worst record in the league but a late-season surge made them finish with the sixth-worst record. Now all Warriors fans will be tuning in on June 22nd to see if the Warriors will keep the Wolves pick, and if so how high the pick will be. A best-case scenario would be the Warriors getting the 4th or 5th pick. This year’s draft is looking five players deep before a drop-off in talent. As long as the Warriors can keep the Wolves’ pick this year, this can also be used as a trade chip to give Steph Curry some help.
Main Photo Embed from Getty Images
