In the early hours of Monday morning, it was revealed by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that prized free agent Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers would be taking his talents east to join Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. The news brought to an end the promising but ultimately unfruitful partnership between George and Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles and gave Embiid arguably the most versatile co-star he's had during his 76ers tenure.
Although the 76ers ultimately won out, there were understandably several teams reported to have been interested in George's services, one of which was the Golden State Warriors, who flamed out in the Play-In round last season and are looking for ways to maximize the twilight years of Stephen Curry's career.
It was initially reported by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints that the “Clippers began seriously discussing the framework of a trade with the Warriors that would have sent the All-Star to San Francisco, sources said. These conversations, not entirely in one specific trade scenario, included the likes of Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, and Moses Moody in a variety of layouts.”
Promising Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, however, was not someone whom the Warriors were interested in moving. Now, more light is being shed on that aspect of why the trade fell through.
“The Warriors offered multiple combinations of expiring contracts, young players and an unprotected 2027 first-round pick, sources said, “reported Romana Shelburne of ESPN. “The Clippers countered by asking for prized youngster Jonathan Kuminga, sources said. The Warriors resisted because Kuminga is so important to their own future, sources said, but also because they worried George wouldn't be as interested in joining them if they gave up too much to get him.”
Where do the Warriors go from here?
The Warriors have not exactly had a blazing start to the NBA offseason thus far. In addition to missing out on George, the team also watched future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson walk out of the door to the Dallas Mavericks in what was technically a sign and trade but only netted Golden State a couple of future second round picks.
The Warriors' only consolation prize so far in free agency has been D'Anthony Melton, previously of the 76ers, who is a solid player but not someone who is going to change the future course of the franchise.
While Curry continues to play at a high level going into his age 37 season, the play (and maturity) of Draymond Green have both fallen off of a cliff in the last couple of years, and now, the Warriors have to be banking on a gigantic leap from Kuminga in his fourth season to even keep pace in the crowded Western Conference playoff picture, let along make any real noise.
As previously noted, this past season was a failure for the Warriors, who ended up as the tenth seed in the west and now have objectively gotten worse so far in this offseason. The team will now shift their attention elsewhere to try to improve the roster around Curry.
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