Warriors’ Stephen Curry Issues Ominous Trade Warning

Stephen Curry warned the Golden State Warriors front office ahead of the February 6 trade deadline about making “desperate” moves that could jeopardize the franchise’s future.

“Desperate trades or desperate moves that deplete the future, there is a responsibility on allowing or keeping the franchise in a good space and good spot when it comes to where we leave this thing when we’re done,” Curry told reporters following the Warriors’ 104-101 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday, January 13. “[It] Doesn’t mean that you’re not trying to get better. It doesn’t mean that you’re not active in any type of search to, if you have an opportunity where a trade makes sense or even in the summer free agency [move] makes sense. You want to continue to get better.

“Nobody wants to be stale or be in a situation where you’re passing up opportunities. But it doesn’t mean that you’re desperate just flinging assets all around the place just because you want to do something.”

The Slide Continues

The Warriors need a jolt after their tough loss in Toronto sank them to 12th place in the Western Conference.

Curry scored 26 points while Andrew Wiggins added 20 but the Warriors squandered a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter to fall completely out of the postseason picture with three weeks left before the NBA trade deadline.

They have lost four of their last five games as the streaking Sacramento Kings, the red-hot Phoenix Suns and the up-and-coming San Antonio Spurs, who dominated the Los Angeles Lakers 126-102 on the same night, have overtaken them in the standings.

The Warriors are now half-game out of the final play-in spot after going 7-17 following their 12-3 start to the season.

Since that scintillating start, the Warriors’ offense has stumbled to the fourth-worst in the league and a bottom-10 defense exacerbated their woes during this rough 24-game game stretch.

While it looks bleak at this point for the Warriors, who are short of consistent firepower outside of Curry, they still have a puncher’s chance to enter the postseason with the seventh-lightest schedule remaining.

They will have at least a full two-day rest before hosting the NBA’s league-worst Washington Wizards on January 18 after winding up their current four-game road trip in Minnesota on Wednesday, January 15.

The Crux of a Jimmy Butler Trade

The Warriors have been linked to the Miami Heat‘s disgruntled star Jimmy Butler early in the season, but they have since soured on the idea of trading for the six-time NBA All-Star and paying him $110 million over the next two years after he turns 36.

A Butler trade would require giving up their depth, including their pair of wings Jonathan Kuminga, their ascending young star who is due to restricted free agency, and Wiggins as the salary ballast.

While Butler is a ceiling-raiser in the interim, paying him and Curry more than $50 million each annually over the next two years would cripple the Warriors’ flexibility.

Outside of Butler, there is no trade available that could catapult the Warriors back to serious playoff contention this season.