![\"NBA](\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/w_3840,q_auto:good,c_limit\/MjE0NTAxMDkyMjU4NDg5MzY3\/jimmy-butler-and-steph-curry.jpg\")
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The Golden State Warriors finally have their roster set after an offseason of drama surrounding Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s free agency, which gummed up the works of everything else the franchise wanted to accomplish.<\/p>\n
But now that all of the team\u2019s desired players are in-house, it\u2019s time to talk trades.<\/p>\n
Kuminga is a reasonable target, both in terms of upside as an on-ball creator and as a young player carrying an annual average salary well over $20 million. That should open some doors for the Warriors, but the question is how much more is the team willing to include to take a swing at a deal that might actually put it over the hump in a hyper-competitive Western Conference?<\/p>\n
Golden State can trade up to four first-round picks, plus multiple first-round pick swaps, spanning the next seven NBA drafts, per Bobby Marks of ESPN. It would probably take all of those assets, Kuminga and a handful of other talented players to make a move for Milwaukee Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Golden State Warriors should be thinking big if they want to give Stephen Curry a chance at a fifth ring, especially as he gets ready to turn 38 next season,\u201d Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report wrote on Tuesday. \u201cNow with Kuminga under contract along with some other young players and future draft picks available, the Warriors could make a strong offer for the two-time MVP if he ends up asking out of Milwaukee.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most common line of thinking is that Antetokounmpo won\u2019t push for a trade until next offseason, when he will be preparing for the final year of his $175 million contract. The problem for the Bucks in that scenario is that Antetokounmpo will be able to use the threat of his impending free agency to scare off any teams he doesn\u2019t want to play for, thereby shrinking the market for Milwaukee and driving down his return value.<\/p>\n
If the Bucks see that end coming, moving Antetokounmpo ahead of the league\u2019s trade deadline in early February is the most prudent course of action. Buying the Warriors\u2019 first-round draft future should be relatively appealing to the Bucks given the age of Golden State\u2019s three stars: Curry (37), Jimmy Butler (36) and Draymond Green (35).<\/p>\n
The problem involves the Warriors\u2019 salary cap situation and new league rules with regard to the first and second aprons, and how those regulations impact the types of deals affected teams can make.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurry, Butler and Draymond Green combine to earn more than 75% of the Warriors\u2019 team salary cap, leaving Golden State without enough salary to cobble together a deal if an impact player were available,\u201d Marks wrote Monday. \u201cThe Warriors\u2019 three next highest-paid players \u2014 Moses Moody, Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski \u2014 have a total salary equal to $24 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo carries a salary of just under $58.5 million in 2025-26, while Kuminga is owed $22.5 million this season. Kuminga, plus Moody and Hield and Podziemski, would still put Golden State around $12 million short of matching Antetokounmpo\u2019s number.<\/p>\n
That said, if the Warriors are willing to include Green\u2019s $25.9 million in 2025-26 as salary filler and\/or somehow incorporate a third organization that could use Green and make the money and player exchange work for Milwaukee via that path, a deal bringing Antetokounmpo to Golden State could theoretically get done.<\/p>\n
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The Golden State Warriors finally have their roster set after an offseason of drama surrounding Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s free agency, which gummed up the works of everything else… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":108785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n