As we all know, last summer, in order to seize Curry's peak tail to win the championship, the Warriors did not hesitate to trade Poole, who had just renewed his contract with a maximum salary, to the Wizards, in exchange for the aging Paul to restructure the Big Five lineup. Although the Big Five have outstanding book strength, and there are also a number of good players such as Kuminga and Moody on the bench, after playing a whole season, the Warriors dug a hole in the early and middle stages and fell to the bottom of the West, but they relied on Curry's strong outburst to bring the Warriors into the play-offs.
It's just that in the play-offs against the archrival Kings, Curry was invincible with both fists and four hands, and finally lost regrettably, and the Warriors ended the 2023-24 season full of twists and turns ahead of schedule. Entering the offseason, the first decision made by Warriors management was to avoid taxes. According to owner Lacob, the team's primary goal in the new season is to avoid paying a high luxury tax, because in recent years, the Warriors have paid the league's No. 1 luxury tax, but the team's record has not hit the expected goal, and at the same time, Thompson, Kuminga, Moody and others in the team are facing contract renewal problems this summer, so how to reduce the luxury tax while retaining the core roster has become a top priority for the Warriors.
In this regard, American media "BR" reporter Eric Pincus gave suggestions after comprehensively considering the Warriors' lineup configuration, Dunleavy needs to pull the Trail Blazers, 76ers and Warriors to reach a three-way deal, the main body of the transaction is the Warriors get Brogdon, Robert Williams, 76ers get Wiggins, 1.1 million cash (from the Trail Blazers), the Trail Blazers get Looney, No. 16 pick (from the 76ers), 22.5 million trade exceptions (Wiggins), 4.4 million (trade exceptions). Here's a quick breakdown of how important this three-way deal is for the Warriors.
Wiggins' form has been seriously down this season, although he was relegated to the bench with Thompson, but his contribution to the game is still limited, especially after experiencing family troubles, Wiggins has no intention of playing on the court, and the offensive and defensive ends are fully overtaken by rookie Kuminga, so under the premise that the team must keep Thompson, sacrificing Wiggins has become the best option. Not only that, although Looney is an indispensable core center on the Warriors' way to win the championship, he is only a blue-collar player after all, and his state has been seriously declining in the past two years, and he can no longer support the heavy responsibility of guarding the interior, so the Warriors urgently need to find a center with more frame protection strength to strengthen the defense and offensive ability under the basket.
In this way, the addition of Brogdon and Williams is crucial. The former, as the former NBA's best sixth man, averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game this season, and is a stable firepower that the Warriors urgently need at the moment, and his arrival can make up for the lack of offensive firepower with the ball outside of Curry. And the latter Williams, although injured, but healthy William is also a top blue-collar who can cut 10 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, and his addition will greatly improve the Warriors' weak interior shortcomings.
Although this is only a three-way trade idea proposed by the American media "BR", if you think about it, it is also within the acceptable range for the Warriors, Trail Blazers and 76ers. And for the Warriors, on the basis of retaining Curry, Thompson, Green, Paul, Kuminga and Moody, etc., only sacrificing Wiggins and Looney can get the combination of Brogdon and Williams, the depth of the Warriors' roster will usher in an all-round upgrade, and the chaotic West will also usher in the finale, such a perfect starting + bench lineup, how can other teams in the league play?