Following an injury-plagued season where they finished as the worst team in the NBA in the 2019-20 season, the Golden State Warriors are hoping to return to the championship hunt in 2020-21 with a healthy Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson leading the way. As such, there has been much speculation regarding their plans for the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, and as a new report claims, they have received some interesting offers for it.
As quoted by NBC Sports Bay Area , ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Monday’s edition of The Jump that Golden State has “definitely had talks about moving down” in the draft, which will take place on Wednesday, November 18. He added that rival teams have offered a number of “interesting” packages to the organization, though at the moment, none of these potential deals have convinced them to part ways with the No. 2 pick just yet.
With eight days remaining before the NBA’s 30 teams choose their top rookies for the 2020-21 season, there is still no consensus when it comes to predicting what the Warriors will do with the aforementioned selection. According to NBC Sports Bay Area , many observers are expecting them to flip the second overall choice for an “established” veteran who could immediately help them in their quest to return to championship glory. However, these players are supposedly “few and far between,” thus making it even more challenging for Golden State to find the right trade partner.
As further suggested by the publication, the Warriors’ best course of action might be to engage in a trade that would allow them to get a veteran as well as another lottery selection. One recently suggested transaction involved the team sending Andrew Wiggins and the No. 2 pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for their No. 7 choice and six-time All-Star power forward Blake Griffin . Such a deal would reportedly allow both teams to address their weaknesses, though Griffin’s recent injury history — as well as his expensive contract — might make him a risky acquisition for the organization.
There’s also a possibility that the Warriors will make use of their second overall selection on an incoming rookie such as former Memphis Tigers star James Wiseman. In a separate report, NBC Sports Bay Area further cited Windhorst, who explained on Monday that the Charlotte Hornets are also hoping to select the 7-foot-1-inch center and might even move up to No. 1 in order to do so. This, he said, could dictate what the Warriors’ final plans would be for the upcoming draft.