San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Wiggins longterm fit? Robinson back?
There hasn’t been a better time this season for a Warriors mailbag.
After trading away six rotation players in two weeks, Golden State is riddled with questions. I answer the most pressing ones here: @david_t_savage: What are the chances that either Burks or GR3 come back next year?
A: I doubt Alec Burks comes back, but I think there’s a reasonable chance that Glenn Robinson III returns. I was told that the Warriors were more upset about losing Robinson than they were any of the five other players traded before the deadline. That speaks to the respect he commanded throughout that locker room as a leader and role player.
Robinson told me about a month ago that, if necessary, he’d be willing to return to the Warriors on a minimum contract this summer. He appreciated Golden State for believing in him at a time when few teams did, and he wanted to be around to see this season’s adversity hopefully give way to legitimate contention next season.
If the Warriors can get Robinson on a minimum this summer, I have to think they jump at that opportunity. He’d be a tremendous backup to Andrew Wiggins at that smallforward spot.
@Nate_moseby: Judging by how the Warriors are talking about this (Wiggins) trade, do we think they’re holding on to the draft picks or are they not done dealing?
A: I don’t think the Warriors know what they’re going to do in the 2020 draft, much less with the two 2021 picks they acquired from Minnesota. The good thing is that, for the first time in nearly a decade, Golden State has draft capital that it can use to trade for helpful pieces if that’s what they choose to do.
With the NBA’s worst record at 1241, the Warriors are wellpositioned for a topfive pick in June. Part of the reason Golden State made Thursday’s trade with Minnesota was that it believes the Timberwolves will miss the playoffs next season, ensuring the Warriors a lottery pick in a strong 2021 draft.
Those are important assets for a team that, draft picks aside, should have enough talent to contend in the Western Conference in 202021. General manager Bob Myers has managed to put his roster in a position to contend soon while also building toward the future. @imuirhucklebery: Did Lacob just get hit with a huge IRS bill or something?
A: I understand the question. Joe Lacob has spared no expense to chase championships, so why did the Warriors unload Willie CauleyStein, Burks, Robinson, Jacob Evans III and Omari Spellman largely to get under the luxurytax threshold?
As Myers explained to reporters Friday, he didn’t think it made much sense for a lotterybound team to have to pay the repeater tax — a penalty of roughly $40 million for being above the luxurytax threshold three out of four years. There’s also the fact that the Warriors’ roster was facing a numbers crunch next season. At some point, players needed to go to free up spots for future draft picks and free agents.
Evans, who has yet to prove he’s an NBA player, had to get unloaded somehow. Though Burks and CauleyStein were helpful this season, they didn’t necessarily fit into the Warriors’ longterm plans. I think Spellman and Robinson were the toughest for Golden State to part with, but those were sacrifices it was ultimately willing to make to save a significant amount of money.
@NoCap757: What is our bench going to look like next season?
A: The Warriors pretty much have four starting spots spoken for next season: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Wiggins and Draymond Green. The starting center job could go to Marquese Chriss, Kevon Looney or someone Golden State drafts or signs in free agency.
At this point, the Warriors’ 202021 bench looks something like this: Ky Bowman as the backup point guard, Damion
Lee and Jordan Poole as the backup shooting guards, TBD as the backup small forward, Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic as the backup power forwards, and Looney and/or Chriss as the backup centers.
That’s a pretty solid bench if you ask me, but the Warriors could benefit from a couple more elder statesmen and maybe one more proven scorer. Golden State should be able to find that in free agency with the midlevel exception and minimum contracts. @noiserawker: What are the odds Wiggins’ defense will be fixable?
A: I think Wiggins’ defense is much more fixable than D’Angelo Russell’s. When the Warriors landed Russell in a complex signandtrade with Brooklyn last summer, they hoped that they could at least get him to play decent defense. That never happened.
But unlike Russell, Wiggins has shown glimmers of being a solid onball defender in recent years. His lateral quickness and 7foot wingspan suggest that he can hold his own against some of the league’s highscoring wings. When Wiggins plays alongside Curry and Thompson next season, he’ll be able to focus more on defense.
I don’t ever expect Wiggins to be an AllDefensive Team selection, but I do think he can at least be the level of defender that Robinson provided this season — not elite, but certainly adequate. That would go a long way in making Wiggins a longterm fit for the Warriors. @ClaytonConover: What are their future plans for the backup point guard? Sure, they signed Pargo, but he’s 33.
A: Jeremy Pargo was brought in to round out the roster quickly, and to be rewarded for playing well for Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz. He can eat up some minutes, but I don’t see him figuring into the Warriors’ 202021 plans.
I think Golden State would be comfortable going into next season with Bowman as its primary backup at point guard. Curry, when healthy, should play around 33 minutes a night. If the Warriors don’t want Bowman initiating the offense when Curry sits, they can put the ball in Green’s hands.
Bowman is a highenergy role player who can rebound, pass and defend fullcourt. That being said, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Warriors sign a more experienced point guard this summer to a minimum contract just to take some pressure off of him.
@JasehMorant: Do we have any idea if Andrew Wiggins will stay with the Warriors longterm?
A: That’s certainly the plan. Wiggins is only 24, and the Warriors believe he hasn’t come close to realizing his NBA potential.
It should help Wiggins that Golden State won’t ask him to be a goto scorer. As long as he runs the break, makes open jumpers and plays willing defense, he’ll have a chance to be an important part of a championshipcaliber team.
And if Wiggins ends up being a bust with the Warriors? Well, they don’t want to think about that possibility. Wiggins is owed $94.7 million through 202223. That albatross of a contract could make him impossible to unload if he struggles.
@ritvikgandesiri: Best potential trade package for the 2020 Warriors pick, assum
ing it’s top 3?
A: It’s way too early to speculate with any real detail, but I will tell you this: Front offices throughout the league are extremely down on the 2020 draft. One scout told me this should be the worst lottery since the Anthony Bennett draft in 2013. A topthree pick, normally a major trade asset, might not be worth as much as you’d assume.
@DanRiskind: Everyone says the Warriors should have waited until this summer to get back better compensation. If they waited, what do you think they could have gotten this summer?
A: I honestly don’t think they could’ve done any better than they did. No team wanted Russell as badly as the Timberwolves, so no team was going to be as willing as Minnesota to put together a good package for him.
The thing that’s not getting mentioned enough is that the Warriors got a topthree protected firstround pick in a strong 2021 draft. It’s extremely rare for a firstround pick to be that lightly protected, and it took days for the Timberwolves to relent to that demand.
People are judging this trade based on their opinions of Wiggins, but this deal was about far more than just Wiggins. The Warriors got under the luxury tax, acquired draft picks to build toward the future and parted with a maxcontract player whose best skills duplicated Curry’s. To me, that’s a win.