Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Golden State Warriors front office have drawn plenty of plaudits for their trade deadline activity, with the blockbuster move for Jimmy Butler paying immediate dividends over the past six weeks.
The Warriors are now an astounding 16-2 with Butler in the lineup, but perhaps the front office should get just as much credit for what they didn’t do as much as for what they did. The Butler move came a day before the deadline, leaving enough time for Golden State to consider another significant trade to shake up their roster.
The Warriors dodged a bullet in not trading for Nikola Vucevic
Perhaps the biggest name constantly linked to the Warriors prior to the deadline was Nikola Vucevic, with the Chicago Bulls center having been a prominent trade candidate for months as both teams floundered in their respective conference.
Even in the final 24 hours before the deadline, there were reports that Golden State and Chicago were still engaged in trade discussions surrounding Vucevic who’s had a remarkably efficient offensive season.
A deal was ultimately not forthcoming, which may have proved the right decision for the Warriors who’ve since enjoyed a 16-3 record since the deadline. It’s not so much about Vucevic and what he’s done in recent weeks, but more so about the Warrior roster and specific individuals who may been impacted by the trade.
The whole Vucevic idea emanated from the need for a shooting big man, but that’s dissipated anyway with the emergence of Quinten Post who’s drilling an extraordinary 43.1% from beyond the arc in his rookie season.
The seven-footer went 6-of-9 from beyond the arc against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, and has outplayed Vucevic in the two meetings between Golden State and Chicago. Ultimately the Warriors would have asked themselves, why be paying Vucevic $20 million when our rookie center is an even better 3-point shooter?
Any trade for Vucevic would have required Golden State to give up at least two veteran pieces in Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney to match salary. The former has had a career rejuvenation of sorts in recent weeks, with Payton scoring in double figures six times and shooting nearly 50% from three since the All-Star break.
Payton now figures to be a key piece to the playoff rotation, particularly given the Warriors lost their best point of attack defender in Andrew Wiggins. Post also appears to be a big part of the present and future, and otherwise may have been hidden out of the rotation had Vucevic been acquired.
Steve Kerr has shown that his crunch-time lineup features Draymond Green as a small-ball center, providing further evidence that the Warriors dodged a bullet by not orchestrating a Vucevic trade.
