The Golden State Warriors appeared to have all the makings of a team that would make a rousing second half run. With Stephen Curry back from his midseason hiatus due to a shoulder injury (and perhaps a minor trade or pickup here and there to shore up the team's weaknesses), the Warriors had all the weapons to continue moving atop the congested Western Conference playoff picture. However, the Warriors just couldn't seem to catch a break.
Curry is set to miss “multiple weeks” for the Warriors after he injured his knee against the Dallas Mavericks last Saturday. This unfortunate development will, unquestionably, make the reigning champions' quest to at least make the playoffs outright an even steeper uphill climb than it already was. Even then, Klay Thompson's incredible performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night proves that you can never count a team with as much championship experience as the Warriors out.
Nevertheless, even with Stephen Curry in the lineup, it was clear that the Warriors need to bolster their depth. They have experienced firsthand just how difficult it is to straddle the fine line between competing now and gearing up for the future, and they have played uneven basketball as a result.
Simply put, it's quite unclear just for how much longer the Warriors would settle to manage this tricky balancing act. With the Dubs' luxury-tax bill reaching unprecedented levels, it's also quite unclear just for how much longer the Warriors ownership group could stomach such extravagant spending given their less-than-stellar results on the court this season.
Something has to give for these Warriors. And there may be no better time for them to make some moves than the present, given how near the NBA trade deadline is. Here's one last-minute trade the Warriors should try to pull off with their season at a crossroads.
Warriors finally trade James Wiseman
It is fairly certain that almost everyone who is reading this has experienced just how difficult it is to deal with the fallacy of sunk cost. After all, it's not easy to let go of something (or someone) that someone has already invested time, money, and effort onto. However, sometimes, doing so is what's necessary for both parties to flourish even as they go their separate ways. And it is becoming incredibly clear that the Warriors holding onto James Wiseman for dear life is hurting all parties involved – the Dubs' ownership group, the Warriors' on-court performance, and even Wiseman's career prospects.
The Warriors are already ponying up an eye-popping amount to keep their current core. The recent extensions to Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are pushing the Dubs' payroll to its limit, which means that losing their defensive anchor Draymond Green could very well be in the cards. And to put things in even greater perspective, the Warriors, should they decide to trade away Wiseman, would net them a ton of luxury tax payment savings.
Specifically, the Warriors can save up to $136 million in salary and luxury tax payments if they jettison James Wiseman without acquiring something in return, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. That figure is greater than what the Sacramento Kings – the current third seed in the Western Conference – is paying for their entire roster.
It'll be tough to stomach the thought of dumping Wiseman's salary for the sake of saving cash. But in this case, it would literally save the Warriors a boatload of money. Sure, it's difficult to feel too bad when the billionaires who own NBA franchises hemorrhage money. But in this case, when your cash burn amounts to nothing more but garbage time minutes, it'll be tough to justify spending the upkeep necessary to hold onto someone who was once one of the most tantalizing prospects in the league.
Owning an NBA franchise may not be like any other business, that's for sure. The Warriors know this firsthand – if one of the employees in an investment firm, hypothetically speaking, punched another employee, the company will surely fire the offender. That didn't happen when Draymond Green decked Jordan Poole. Still, the NBA is a business nevertheless. And with Warriors fans turning on James Wiseman, it's difficult to imagine that there'll be too much of a backlash when the inevitable day of his trade or move to another team arrives.
Warriors fans will certainly rue drafting Wiseman over LaMelo Ball. But there's no use in crying over spilled milk. What has happened has already happened, and there's no turning back the clock. What the Dubs could do now is to proceed accordingly with the information right in front of them. And the information in front of them at the moment screams just how beneficial it could be for them to finally let go of the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Would it hurt the Warriors brass if they come to realize that everything Wiseman needed to fulfill his potential is a change of scenery? Definitely. But the Warriors cannot afford to wait on a day that may never come and hurt the franchise's future in the process.
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