After beating the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals and winning the NBA championship, the Golden State Warriors entered this season with the goal of repeating as champions. But fast forward to the current day, and it's evident that the Warriors fell short of this goal.
The Warriors finished the regular season with a mediocre 44-38 record, including an abysmal 11-30 road record. They ended up as the sixth seed in the Western Conference and barely avoided the play-in tournament. And after upsetting De'Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs in seven games, the Warriors were eliminated by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.
Considering Golden State's underwhelming postseason run, it's evident that the Warriors were not a championship team. So, the front office decided to shake up the roster via the draft and trades. Firstly, the Warriors owned two picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, the 19th pick and the 57th pick. At 19, they selected Santa Clara guard Brandin Podziemski, and at 57, they selected Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. And the Warriors traded guard Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards in exchange for veteran point guard Chris Paul.
Despite all of the rock-solid moves the Golden State Warriors made both through the draft and via trade, they are still very light on depth at one position. With all of that said, let's look at one trade that the Warriors must target in the 2023 NBA offseason:
1 trade Warriors still must target in 2023 NBA offseason
Memphis Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard
The Warriors are currently light on depth at the shooting guard position. Klay Thompson is one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA, but outside of Thompson, the only classified shooting guards on the roster are rookie Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Gary Payton II. Podziemski was heralded as an NBA-ready prospect, and rightfully so, but to expect him to play 20-25 minutes per night from the get-go would be a lot to ask. So the Warriors would be wise to add another shooting guard to their roster via trade this summer. And one name in particular who makes a lot of sense for the Warriors to target is Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Luke Kennard.
The Golden State Warriors are a team famous for its tendency to shoot threes early and often. During the 2022-23 regular season, the Warriors finished first in the league in three-point attempts per game and second in three-point percentage. And Luke Kennard would fit this style of play like a glove, as he was one of the best long-range shooters in the NBA in 2022-23.
Luke Kennard converted an otherworldly 49.4% of his three-point attempts during the 2022-23 regular season on 4.6 attempts per game with the Grizzlies and Clippers, an impressive combination of efficiency and usage rate. And Kennard's three-point percentage in the 2022-23 campaign becomes even more impressive when compared with the rest of the league, as his 49.4% three-point percentage was the highest in the entire NBA among all qualified players.
At this juncture, only time will tell if the Golden State will stand pat with their current roster or decide to add more players via trade. But what's already abundantly clear is that the Warriors would be wise to target Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Luke Kennard via trade.
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