The Golden State Warriors were one of the most prominently mentioned team leading up to the trade deadline. In the aftermath of Jimmy Butler's season-ending torn ACL that puts his status for the 2026-27 season in doubt, the Warriors needed to pull off a miracle to put together a contending team around Stephen Curry, who is in the twilight of his career.
However, such a miracle did not come. The Warriors swung for the fences on a ball that landed on the dirt and whiffed horribly, leaving them in such a difficult position for this season. Curry is currently out with knee problems, and the Dubs are limping towards the All-Star break.
And what's waiting for them following the All-Star break is not Giannis Antetokounmpo, but rather, a heavily depleted roster that's about to rely on a player whose health is one of the biggest question marks in the association.
The trade deadline did not work out according to plan for the Warriors, that's for sure. They made two trades when it became clear that Antetokounmpo was not coming to the Bay, and it's hard to even count those as consolation deals as there is so much uncertainty involving the man they brought in, Kristaps Porzingis.
Here is the grade the Dubs front office deserves for the moves they made and the moves they failed to make prior to the deadline.
Warriors whiff on Giannis Antetokounmpo
With the Milwaukee Bucks' 2025-26 season having gone sideways, Antetokounmpo became a more and more likely trade candidate to find a new home prior to the deadline. Giannis is currently recovering from a calf injury, but any team would know how impactful he is, especially for the Warriors.
Antetokounmpo might be the fiercest player for opponents to defend near the basket, and it would be quite the dream for the Warriors to pair him with the best shooter in the league in Curry. That tandem would certainly be good enough to compete for a title, especially if the Dubs managed to keep a few of their role players in the process of acquiring the Bucks star.
Any trade for Antetokounmpo would have required the Warriors to part ways with one of Butler and Green to go along with Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and all the draft assets Golden State can part ways with. Considering how Butler is dealing with a torn ACL, the Bucks had no interest in him — which meant that the Dubs had to let go of Green, which they were reportedly willing to do anyway.
Alas, the Bucks felt as though the Warriors' offer was not sufficient, and they felt the same about all the other offers they got, hence their decision to keep Antetokounmpo instead. This swing and a miss on Antetokounmpo effectively kills the Dubs' title hopes for this season and perhaps the next few years as well.
Would trading all their assets for Antetokounmpo have been worth it for the Warriors? Or are they just content to let Curry ride into the sunset as a four-time NBA champion who's plying his trade on a mediocre team to wind down his career?
Considering that Curry will be 38 years of age before the playoffs start, avoiding the all-in trap might have been the best for the Warriors' long-term outlook. Giving up their picks in 2026, 2028, and 2032 to go along with swaps in 2027, 2029, and 2031 for someone like Antetokounmpo, who hasn't exactly been his healthiest self, may not have been the best idea anyway.
But losing out on Antetokounmpo may have forced the Warriors into making one of the most head-scratching moves of the trade deadline.
Dubs look to find a miracle in the form of Kristaps Porzingis
Warriors acquire: Kristaps Porzingis
Hawks acquire: Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield
Porzingis has played in exactly 17 games this season for the Atlanta Hawks, and somehow, the Warriors are expecting him to make a huge impact for them this season. The Hawks made him available for trade for a reason, and that's because Porzingis' Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) has rendered him very much incapable of suiting up for more than a game at a time.
In fact, he's missed the past 15 games, and the Warriors are now expecting him to play enough to the point that bringing him in was the best that they could do in a Jonathan Kuminga trade.
Kuminga has long been rumored to be on the trade block, but the Warriors held onto him for so long, out of, perhaps, the belief that he'd figure it out under coach Steve Kerr someday. Or maybe, the Dubs thought he'd become this brilliant young player who could be the centerpiece of a trade that would net them a true co-star alongside Curry.
Whatever the case may be, trading Kuminga for Porzingis seems to be a no-win move for the Warriors. It's not quite clear if Porzingis would even be able to play more than 10 games for the Dubs.
And his contract is expiring; instead of having Kuminga's contract on the books for next season to try and swing a trade for another contributor, they'd instead need to re-sign Porzingis so that they won't lose the asset for nothing — and that, again, comes with so much risk as KP is never healthy anymore.
Porzingis is such a good fit for the Dubs on paper as one of the best floor-spacing rim protectors in the NBA. However, the Hawks lost faith in his ability to be healthy moving forward, and that should have been telling since they were the team working closest with the Latvian star.
This is a classic case of holding on to an asset for far too long and then seeing their value depreciate so much that it would be best for them to cut their losses.
Grade: C+
Golden State ships out Trayce Jackson-Davis
Warriors acquire: 2026 second-round pick (from the Los Angeles Lakers)
Raptors acquire: Trayce Jackson-Davis
Jackson-Davis was barely playing any minutes for the Warriors, finding himself stuck behind Draymond Green, Al Horford, and Quinten Post in their big-man rotation. And with Porzingis coming in, Jackson-Davis simply no longer had a place in the Dubs rotation.
Trading him for a second-round pick at least gives the Warriors another shot at a flier in the second round, much like Jackson-Davis was to begin with.
Grade: B-
