The Warriors’ fast start has changed the tone around Golden State, but it hasn’t changed the basic question hanging over the roster: do they have enough size to go toe-to-toe with the league’s best teams?
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg has become a big part of why the conversation around the team looks different now. Former ESPN writer Bill Simmons went as far as saying the rookie may have rescued the Steph Curry era.
“Yaxel might have single-handedly saved the Steph era, like for real, and I can't tell you how good he was in this Denver game last night . . . Yaxel looked like mid-2010's LeBron in this game.
I don't say that lightly because mid-2010's LeBron was awesome. They're running the offense through him.
He was all over the place on defense. He was rebounding.
He was initiating stuff. He was getting to the basket whenever.
It was unbelievable. I couldn't believe it.
I couldn't believe how good he was," Simmons said.
Even with that kind of boost, Golden State still appears to need a major swing if it wants to be viewed as a true contender. Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey floated one that would send Draymond Green, Kristaps Porziņģis, Will Richard, and a top-four-protected 2032 first-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for Domantas Sabonis.
Bailey argued that the Warriors’ improved record makes a Green deal tougher to picture, but he still sees Sabonis as the kind of fit that makes sense if Golden State is serious about one more title push with Stephen Curry. In his view, the Warriors would likely have to combine Green’s salary with Porziņģis’ contract to make it work.
“The Golden State Warriors' better-than-expected start makes a Draymond Green trade harder to imagine, but they look like a near-ideal landing spot for Sabonis, and they simply can't get him without including Green or Jimmy Butler. The more logical approach, assuming the Warriors really want to chase one more title with Stephen Curry, is to pair Green's salary with the Kristaps Porziņģis contract, which was essentially designed to be a human trade exception,” Bailey wrote.
The appeal is clear. Golden State needs a big man who can control the glass and help organize the offense, and Sabonis checks both boxes. He rebounds at a high level, can function as a point forward, and brings a track record of winning.
There’s also a sense that Sacramento could be open to moving him. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Sabonis has made his feelings known.
“Quite frankly, Sabonis wants out of there, and if they can move him, they would. So he's not happy,” Windhorst said.
Losing Green would sting on the defensive end, but if the Warriors are truly trying to squeeze one more championship run out of Curry’s window, this is the kind of move that would at least put them in the conversation.
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For Warriors fans, the odd part is how long they watched Thompson thrive in the biggest moments without ever getting this exact finish. He scored 30 points in the game and helped carry the Heat alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but the lasting image was the shot at the buzzer-window, the kind of moment that somehow had never happened before for one of the leagues most familiar sharpshooters. [Read more 🡒]
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It is the kind of speculation that instantly changes the conversation around Currys final championship chase, because a player of Jokics caliber would reshape the ceiling of the roster in a major way. The uncertainty around Jokics long-term future in Denver, including delayed extension talks and the possibility of free agency, is what makes the rumor worth watching, even if the path to getting him is anything but simple. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Still Have One Big Center Question As Graham Ike Waits
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Ike, meanwhile, remains the name to watch because he has not had enough floor time to really establish whether he can be part of the solution. The Warriors would still like to reshape the position before the trade deadline, with the goal of moving Kristaps Porzingis contract and turning that into a more dependable center option. For now, though, the search continues, and the uncertainty at the spot is still one of the more important roster issues hanging over the team. [Read more 🡒]