It's been over a month into the offseason and many trades have already taken place. Some of them involve big-name stars, drawing headlines and sending the basketball fandom into a frenzy. Take the Golden Warriors' recent transaction, for example. The team was involved in a six-team deal that was highlighted by Klay Thompson's departure to the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors did get pieces in return, but fans continue to wonder if another blockbuster trade awaits on the horizon. Team owner Joe Lacob has an answer to that:
“Look, we have a full roster right now. I think we’re at 14 players,” Lacob said, per 95.7 The Game's Ryan Gilbert. “So anything we do now has got to be pretty much through trade, and are there trades that are being discussed all the time? Absolutely. We could make a significant trade, for sure, but we might not.”
While this isn't a clear yes or no, Lacob's admission of trades “being discussed all the time” could somehow excite Warriors fans with hypothetical scenarios in the near future. The team did get Buddy Hield in hopes of filling the gap Thompson opened, but more rumors continue to swirl around the Bay Area franchise.
What about a certain Utah Jazz forward?
At present, one big name linked to the Warriors is Lauri Markkanen. The Utah Jazz star will undoubtedly add plenty of firepower to the Dubs, but his asking price will be way up there too. Young prospects such as Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody could possibly be involved, along with future draft picks as well.
In short, the Warriors have to be very careful when making major roster decisions. And on the topic of taking caution, Lacob also gave a reminder of the important factors that come into play when analyzing potential trades.
“Trades is kind of the hardest way to go because there are 29 other teams all trying to do the same thing. They’re all trying to get better, and everyone wants to win a trade,” Lacob added. “I know in business you hear the term ‘win-win.' It’s good to make ‘win-win' moves in life, in business, trades, business transactions. But you can’t make someone do that. It’s one of these things where you have to find the right partner at the right time and you have to sort of agree that this is going to work for both parties.”
Still, one can argue that the Warriors have nothing to lose. Right now, the roster doesn't look too primed to be labeled a top contender. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are still there, but in the past two years, the team has lost Klay Thompson, Chris Paul and Jordan Poole. If they want to get over last season's hump, then Curry needs to have another elite scorer by his side.
Who knows? Maybe Joe Lacob might just make that gargantuan transaction and bring Markkanen over to San Francisco.
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