NBA Rumors: Warriors Could Trade Andrew Wiggins & 2020 1st-Rounder For Pascal Siakam, Per Tom Haberstroh
With the return of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson from injury and a chance to pick first overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors appear poised to return to title contention after finishing with the league’s worst record this season. On the other hand, many have opined that the Warriors’ best option would be to trade this year’s first-round selection, and this includes NBC Sports’ Tom Haberstroh, who also suggested including wingman Andrew Wiggins in the offer.
Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area, Haberstroh predicted that the Warriors will move their first-rounder during the offseason, especially if they end up picking first overall. He further expounded on his point, bringing up the case of D’Angelo Russell, who was sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves before this year’s trade deadline despite the organization’s initial insistence that it had no plans of moving the former All-Star guard.
“I suspect that they will get on the phone with just about every team in the league just to survey the landscape and see what kind of value they can get, and also pair potentially Andrew Wiggins’ big contract to make the salaries work for a star.”
The NBC Sports journalist then suggested that Golden State general manager Bob Myers should get in touch with the Toronto Raptors and see if it would be possible to acquire their star power forward, Pascal Siakam. He explained that such a transaction would allow the team to upgrade its defense and find a replacement for Andre Iguodala — who has since moved to the Miami Heat — as a stopper who could cover multiple positions on defense and offer versatility on both ends of the floor.
As shown on his Basketball-Reference player page, Siakam has generally improved in each season of his four-year career thus far, and is currently averaging 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists and shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from three-point range for the Raptors. It’s highly likely, however, that these numbers would go down if he gets a chance to play alongside the likes of Curry and Thompson in the Bay Area.
Despite the potential benefits of sacrificing Wiggins and a lottery selection for a youthful All-Star-caliber talent in Siakam, Haberstroh noted that he doesn’t expect Toronto to be willing to part ways with the Cameroonian forward. He suggested an alternate scenario where the Warriors could make a similar offer for Orlando Magic forward/center Jonathan Isaac, who suffered a torn ACL during the NBA season restart.
“[Prior to his injury], I thought Jonathan Isaac was a perfect complement to what Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson bring to this Golden State Warriors team,” Haberstroh was quoted as saying.
