Four Offseason Acquisition Targets for the Warriors to Monitor
Despite an excellent start after the trade deadline, the Jimmy Butler era in Golden State ended in unceremonious fashion last week as the Warriors fell in 5 games to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The catalyst was the Game 1 injury to Steph Curry’s hamstring, the first injury of its kind that Steph has dealt with in his career and one which sidelined him for the last four games.
While it was compounded by a lingering pelvic issue Butler was dealing with after an unfortunate dive during the first round against Houston, Steph’s absence highlighted a lot of the team’s offensive issues when he’s not on the floor: The spacing, playmaking, and scoring he provides those he shares the court with isn’t difficult to see, both in terms of advanced metrics and the eye test, and its something the Wolves took broad advantage of to send the Warriors home while Curry watched from the bench.
No matter how you spin it, the roster needs some revamp to fill a lot of the holes the team has which modern contenders just don’t. Ball-handlers, self-creation, and positional size on the wings and in the paint are hallmarks that winning teams have multitudes of: The playoffs were looking open enough for the Warriors to make a run at another ring, but without Curry they had none of the above to fall back on. With Butler’s new contract, on top of the clock ticking for Curry, Steve Kerr, and Draymond Green’s time in the league, this team is poised to make moves in the offseason to level up as a year-round playoff threat. Here, we’ll take a look at a few of the options around the middle of the roster they have to move forward for one last dance.
1) Cam Johnson, Brooklyn Nets
Johnson would be a bit of a tricky get, but he fits the profile of a guy who would work well in the Warriors system. Since being moved by the Phoenix Suns in the Kevin Durant trade a few years back, the forward has had some time at the bottom of the east to work on his craft and make notable improvements in the spots where he was lacking. He was an important piece to a Suns roster that had multiple 60-win seasons at a young age to give him some excellent experience, and now as a focal point of a Nets team that’s stuck in directional purgatory, he’s coming off a season where he put up career highs in points per game (18.8) and shooting efficiency (47.5 FG% on another career-high 13 shots a game) which could make him a valuable piece to move so that Brooklyn can full-start their rebuild.
Standing at 6’8 and weighing in at 210 pounds, Johnson’s a silky shooter who can score at all three levels and has good size on the wing: His frame would make him one of the biggest players on the Warriors roster off the rip at a position of need. While he’s not an elite defender, he’s proven to be more than playable against 3s and 4s with upside on that end, in addition to possessing the game IQ and defensive know-how to contribute to a connected team defense like Golden State runs. His catch-and-shoot prowess (40.3% on 5 shots a game from three this past season) makes him scalable as a plug-and-play piece in a motion offense, with his sharpest spots being in the corners where the Warriors generate a lot of their unassisted threes from. His increased role gave him a chance to show off some off-the-dribble skill (35.9% on pull-ups, 50% on limited-volume of stepbacks) when he needs to get his own, too. He would be an excellent fit in the system, but getting him would likely come at the high cost of losing Jonathan Kuminga in a sign-and-trade scenario. With questions surrounding JoKu’s fit on this team when healthy, however, it may be a move worth exploring.
2) Steven Adams, Houston Rockets (Free Agent)
A familiar face to the Golden State Warriors, Adams has been on the receiving end of plenty of Curry-issued losses throughout his playoff career. However, it was rarely due to him being a detriment: While he’s not a spacer and has some issues hitting his free throws, Adams is an experienced veteran who provides true center size and power that the Dubs haven’t traditionally had. He profiles similarly to a more limited Andrew Bogut: A good screen setter and underrated passer who brings the right kind of toughness to a historically precision-focused Warriors team.
The 6’11, 265-pound center is likely going to be a coveted player for a lot of contenders due to his top-tier offensive rebounding acumen, in addition to good durability prior to injury that kept him out of the entire 2023-2024 season. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but he’s the kind of player who has an impact on aspects of the game which aren’t as trackable by analytics. If the Warriors can bring him over to the good side, he another guy that tracks as someone Steve Kerr would love to have, even with his free throw woes, to be a stabilizing force on both ends of the floor while giving Draymond Green some time to rest up from taking on bigger 5s. He’d be an excellent mentor to Trayce Jackson-Davis as well, doing all of the right things that TJD could improve on to be a more regular contributor.
3) Coby White, Chicago Bulls
There’s little getting around the fact that the Warriors have missed Jordan Poole’s production after he was traded to the Wizards. Despite his down year in 2022-2023, Poole gave the Dubs something they now glaringly lack: A microwave scorer who can not just create his own offense in explosive fashion, but run the team’s when Steph goes to the bench. Enter Bulls guard Coby White, a name not unfamiliar to Chicago’s myriad of trade rumors as their direction continues to be unclear as a franchise. White’s coming off a good encore to his breakout two years ago, averaging 20.4 points a game on a 23.7% usage rating only overshadowed by now-Sacramento King Zach Lavine.. He has a myriad of signature performances as a lead guard, showcasing his scorching scoring capabilities both inside the paint (64% in the restricted area) and outside the arc (37% from three) while still directing traffic to make the Bulls offense hum.
White’s a bigger point guard at 6’5, 195 pounds, with notable strides as a defender due to his increased strength since coming into the league. He won’t be a lockdown, but he provides some stingy point-of-attack defense and growing game IQ that gives him distinct 2-way value. He has some good versatility for how he contributes when his team has possession: He can cash in as a shooter off the ball (38.4% on catch-and-shoot threes), break down his defender to get his own looks (34.5% on pull-up threes, 37% on step-backs), or work as a primary facilitator and ball-handler to make sure everyone gets in rhythm (4.5 assists a game). White’s likely looking at a pay raise with his free agency period coming up after next year, so while he’d be a relatively easy get now at $12 million a year, he has the potential to be a rental if Golden State doesn’t want to pay up on him potentially earning around $25 million on an extension. Trading for him would likely cost a first round pick, in addition to probably Moses Moody who makes the same amount of money. As good of a fit as Moody is, it’s hard to argue that White wouldn’t improve the team in his place.
4) De’Anthony Melton, Brooklyn Nets (Free Agent)
A 6-game Warrior this past season who made an impact every minute he was on the court, Melton suffered a season-ending ACL injury that cut his time in the Bay short, as he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Denis Schroder to make the salaries match and shore up the team’s roster. Melton’s game is one that the Warriors are familiar with: He’s a career 37% shooter from the outside that can drive the lane while being in the upper echelon of guard defenders in the league due to his quickness and defensive IQ. It’s notable that he was also a favorite both of the fans and within the locker room in terms of his vibes and buy-in.
Standing at 6’2 and weighing 200 pounds, Melton might seem on the smaller side if he hadn’t proven that he can make use of his rangy 6’8 wingspan to get into passing lanes and make opposing ball-handlers uncomfortable. He’s historically been able to guard multiple positions with great lower body strength against bigger opponents, and the speed to match up with guys who are smaller than him. While there’s no question the best version of Melton makes this roster better (as evidenced by the few games he played for the Warriors at the start of this season), there is a question of how much coming off an ACL injury will affect him. He underwent surgery in late 2024 which should mean he’ll be returning to full strength around the start of next year’s season, but such a major injury might impact his athleticism to stay in front of the shiftier lead guards in the NBA. Even then, however, a post-injury contract likely would remain low-cost on the books, and having both his shooting and defensive IQ back on the roster would be a boon should he not necessarily be the same physically (which has an uncertain degree of likelihood given his young age and history of durability).
Honorable Mention: Giannis Antetokounmpo
While this breakdown is primarily to highlight improvements to the middle of the roster, there’s one big name that has to be brought up given the recent media cycles involving him. The constant underachieving of the Milwaukee Bucks has been pronounced since their recent championship in 2021, and while Antetokounmpo is perennially in the conversation for the best player in the NBA today, roster insufficiencies and injuries have held his teams from making it back to the top of the mountain; Thus, it was no surprise when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Greek superstar is “open-minded about whether his best fit is remaining in Milwaukee or playing somewhere else”.
Rumors about a player of Giannis’s caliber tend to draw a lot of attention, and a team like the Warriors is not going to be exempt from speculation about where he could go next if he doesn’t stay with the Bucks. He was notably the only non-Warrior present at one of Steph Curry’s off-the-court All-Star Weekend events in the Bay, and has a history of praising 30 that ranges from naming him to his all-time starting five to listing him as one of his favorite guys to play as in NBA 2k. Fans of the team have long been enticed by the possibility that Giannis comes to Golden State, but it’s looking like it could be more real than ever now.
He fits a positional need as a big at 6’11, 242 pounds, while elevating the team’s self-creative scoring ability (30.4 points per game) and being just about everywhere on defense, and playing alongside Steph who constantly draws doubles and needs a free safety-esque defender to watch him off-ball at all times will give the Greek Freak some of the easiest looks and matchups he would ever see. The fit doesn’t need to be overthought: He would still be one of the best players in the league while not mucking up a single thing that the Warriors do, and he’d maybe look even better with the freedom he’d get by playing alongside the greatest shooter and floor-raiser that the NBA has ever seen.
(Photo credit: Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)