Attention all 76ers fans: If you’re sitting around and constructing fake Ben Simmons trades, you may want to cross one landing spot off the list.
With the start of training camp fast approaching, the Warriors appear to be content with their current roster and are highly unlikely to pursue a blockbuster trade, whether for Simmons or another veteran player. The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported this week that there has never been a “realistic” offer from Philadelphia, and Golden State owner Joe Lacob doesn’t want to trade second-year center James Wiseman or rookie forward Jonathan Kuminga.
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From Slater:
[Lacob] envisions Wiseman and Kuminga as supplementary, cheaper rotation pieces around an expensive core during their first NBA contract and the franchise’s superstar successors by the time they hit their second NBA contracts, ushering in the Warriors’ next era. … Lacob has called Kuminga and Wiseman (and Jordan Poole and Moses Moody) the organization’s “bridge” to the future and he doesn’t seem intent on burning it, even for a mid-tier star like Simmons who immediately upgrades the team, but is already on his second contract, a max, and comes attached to legit questions about his game and fit.
Lacob and Warriors general manager Bob Myers have been consistent with their messaging. They want to follow the Spurs’ model and won’t mortgage the future when they aren’t even sure if Simmons would be an ideal fit. Two-time MVP Stephen Curry also approved of the team’s selections in the 2021 NBA Draft, and it’s much easier for the front office to stick to its plan when the franchise’s biggest star is fully on board.
Golden State is banking on Curry and Draymond Green continuing to perform at a high level and Klay Thompson returning to form once he is fully healthy. That trio alone makes the Warriors a dangerous team in the Western Conference and takes pressure off the youngsters.
Stances can always change, of course. Myers once said that the Warriors didn’t sign D’Angelo Russell “with the intention of just trading him,” but Russell only lasted a few months with Golden State before being sent to Minnesota.
Could the Warriors be more aggressive on the trade market during the 2021-22 season? Sure. For now, though, Golden State is going to roll with Curry and Co.
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