SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors turned in one of their worst performances of the year in Sunday’s loss. The Toronto Raptors practically skated in transition, picked apart rotation lapses and bodied the small Warriors with length and strength. Two potential solutions to Golden State’s woes were in the building, but not suited up in Warriors colors.
Draymond Green, defensive anchor and offensive connector, was back on the bench for the first time since Dec. 12 but inactive and only able to direct teammates in his sweats. His return is imminent and voice necessary to glue back together a team still searching for any lineup that clicks. Though his return also further crunches a crowded roster.
The other solution: Toronto wing Pascal Siakam. Rumors are swirling around the Raptors making the 6-foot-8 wing available in trades this year following Toronto’s swap of OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks for Immanuel Quickly and RJ Barrett. Raptors president Masai Ujiri was a fixture around the Chase Center halls Sunday, as were many from the Warriors’ front office.
Talks are intensifying with the Feb. 8 trade deadline approaching and the Warriors in desperate need of a shake up. They’ve moved to a 17-19 record, good for the Western Conference’s 11th seed and way off of the championship goals.
Steph Curry and Co. say the team needs to find its identity fast in order to contend. But haste is waste. Change may be the answer.
The Warriors are getting beat up and could use an opportunity to reboot around new faces while Curry is still dominant.
Siakam satisfies the Warriors needs. He’s 29, a versatile and smart defender who can take on any position from perimeter to wing, but is known especially for his strong help defense and quick hands — drawing comparisons to Green. He isn’t a center, but towers over the Warriors with his 7-foot-3 wingspan and force as a scorer in the paint. He’s not much of a 3-point shooter, which would be ideal for a team that likes to space the floor, but had 16 points, six assists, six rebounds and two blocks on Sunday and averages 22.3 points per game this season, 22.8 over his last five seasons in Toronto.
While the NBA zigs into a high-scoring trend, the Warriors might find the benefit of zagging as a defense-focused team with Siakam and Green patrolling the key.
Golden State lacks that defensive grit with Andrew Wiggins’ inconsistencies on both ends. Wiggins has been mostly removed from the starting lineup in the first year of his four-year, $109 million extension because he hasn’t been the in-his-prime star on defense and as a scorer that earned him the extension offer in the first place. They need more production in the front court.
Siakam has been one of Toronto’s stars and is right in his prime, an NBA champion in 2019, a two-time All-Star. His trade value will be determined by his impending free agency, now in the final year of a four-year, $136.9 million contract. The Raptors can demand a bigger haul if Siakam intends to sign an extension with the team to which he’s traded.
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The Warriors preached optionality on the roster to ensure they could make a move or relieve some of the financial burden off one of the the NBA’s highest payrolls if necessary. Chris Paul is movable with an expiring contract, as is Klay Thompson — though the Warriors are wary to move any of the core three at the deadline. To get Siakam, one of those big contracts will have to move to match the money.
The Warriors would also have to part ways with one of their young assets — Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, for example — to facilitate a move. Though, reports indicate the Warriors are bullish on keeping an ascending Kuminga.
Other players will swoop into the rumor mill and hit the trade block as the month progresses. Already the Chicago Bulls are rumored to be shopping 28-year-old shooting guard Zach LaVine. Options will emerge, but the Warriors’ objective seems to be crystalizing.
Siakam was in Chase Center just as two teams’ trajectories seemed to align: The Raptors appear to be selling and the Warriors should be in the market for the player who can prevent the defensive meltdown he perpetuated.
