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The Warriors' goal ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline is clear: They want to upgrade their bench, which has underwhelmed in recent weeks.
Specifically, they're looking for someone who can provide consistent offense off the bench, and if that player can make a 3-pointer, it'd be a godsend.
And I think I've found that player for Golden State. Unless you're a huge NBA fan, you probably haven't heard of him.
Yes, the Warriors have plenty of players they're targeting — general manager Bob Myers said he's talked to two-thirds of the league's teams ahead of the deadline — but Brooklyn guard Spencer Dinwiddie should be the player at the top of Golden State's wish list.
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie (8) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Oklahoma City. The Thunder won 109-108. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Since Christmas, the Warriors' bench has been a negative unit, allowing six more points than they've scored. The culprit behind this turnaround — the Warriors had the second-best plus-minus rating in the league last year (plus-185) — is obvious: they can't shoot 3-pointers. Golden State is shooting 28 percent from beyond the arc since Christmas Day — the second-worst mark in the NBA. The most concerning thing is that it's coming on the second-fewest 3-point attempts.
The Warriors' poor shooting from distance is clearly in their heads.
Nick Young was supposed to be the instant offense from deep off the bench this season, but the microwave's power source — whatever that might be — is often missing; Young has more often been unplayable than competent and Steve Kerr clearly doesn't know which side of the enigma will show up on any given night. And if there's one thing you want in a player, come the playoffs, it's wild unpredictability…
Young's competition at the backup shooting guard spot, Patrick McCaw, is in a similar place. McCaw, who was so strong for the Warriors late last year and in the playoffs, has looked totally lost as of late. His confidence in jump shot is emaciated and he's literally spinning around on defense. He too has been unplayable for Kerr as of late.
Omri Casspi is fighting through injury and the sporadic playing time that comes with that, but even when healthy, he hasn't lived up to expectations. He's made a total of nine 3-pointers this year. He's provided solid contributions as a backdoor cutter and surprisingly prodigious rebounder, but the Warriors need him to be less of a forward and more of a guard, and that's something he hasn't been able to do in his first season with the team.
Shaun Livingston and David West have both been great for the Warriors off the bench this season — truly fantastic — but both of their offensive games are well established. West is all about that 17-foot jumper and Livingston has that 10-foot turnaround. Neither is a factor from beyond the arc.
Same goes for the backup big-men: Jordan Bell, Kevon Looney, and JaVale McGee. Their offensive games are limited, consisting of the open look under the hoop and finishing an alley-oop lob.
And Andre Iguodala, well, that's a while thing.
Iguodala has shown that he can ramp his game up to its highest level at times this season, but overall, he's having the worst shooting season of his career, making 43 percent of his attempts from the field and 23 percent of his 3-pointers. Since Christmas, he's shooting 19 percent from beyond the arc.
Add it all up, and the Warriors' need is undeniable.
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) Now, the Warriors' starters are probably good enough to compensate for the bench's poor offensive play come playoff time, and chemistry and fit are factors at the forefront of Myers' mind, but the NBA is a ruthless business and the Warriors' bench clearly isn't getting the job done.
And it's offensive deficiencies could well be the thing that does the Warriors come the postseason.
That's obviously a problem for Golden State, but wait, there's more: The Warriors don't have a big stack of trade chips, either.
Golden State's top-heavy salary structure leaves the team at a disadvantage in the market, as they'll have a difficult time matching salary with their three viable trade chips: Young (one year, $5.2 million), McGee (one year, $1.47 million, no-trade clause), and McCaw (one year, $1.3 million, pending restricted free agent).
The Warriors don't have a second-round pick they can reasonably move until 2020 and they can't take on salary without sending some the other way.
The circumstances make it difficult to see Atlanta's Marco Belinelli (one year, $6 million), Memphis' Tyreke Evans (one year, $3.2 million), or Minnesota's Shabazz Muhammed (two years, $1.5 million per season) coming to Golden State. All three would likely require a first-round pick to go the other way. They'd probably require McCaw — who despite his struggles, is still an intriguing prospect — to be included in the deal, too.
And all three players provide marginal (at best) additional value to Young when it comes to minutes off the bench. And only one (the one who is least desirable, in my opinion) won't be a free agent this summer.
(Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) The Warriors would love to get Stephen Curry nemesis Avery Bradley from the Clippers — but he costs more than Golden State has to give. The perfect trade for the Warriors would be acquiring Lou Williams from their rivals to the south — Sweet Lou was a borderline All-Star this season, averaging 23 points per game on 44/38/90 percent shooting — but the Warriors simply can't make a deal financially work without moving Livingston or a starter. Not going to happen.
The Warriors should be willing to move a first-round pick for Dinwiddie, though.
Dinwiddie isn't the best offensive player available at the trade deadline — that would be Williams or Evans — but he is on the NBA's best non-rookie contract, bar none.
The 6-foot-6 combo guard with a 6-foot-8 wingspan is a solid defender, is averaging 13 points per game, and is making two 3-pointers, on average, per contest. He can run the Warriors' offense in lieu of Livingston or play off the ball, and his size makes him a perfect fit in the Warriors' switch-heavy defense.
And did I mention the contract?
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Dinwiddie is making $1.5 million this season and $1.6 million, non-guaranteed, in 2018-19. You know how the Warriors have paid to buy second-round draft picks so that they can get players like McCaw and Bell to fill out their roster with team-friendly deals? Dinwiddie is on what is effectively a second-round contract and he's been the Nets' best player this year.
There's no better value in basketball.
That's why I would suggest that Golden State gives up a first-round pick (2018, 2019, or 2020, whatever you can get away with, Bob).
Now, if I was in charge of the Nets, I'd be asking for McCaw as part of the trade. And sliding back into the Warriors' shoes, I think I'd be willing to part with McCaw at this juncture, because if Brooklyn is interested in trading for McCaw now, they're going to be interested in sending him an offer sheet this summer, when he's a restricted free agent — RFA offer sheets are kind of their thing — and the Warriors will be hard pressed to match any outside offer. Better to get ahead of things and recoup some serious value.
Will this trade happen? I don't know. But McCaw and let's say a 2019 first-round pick (you can even put a strange condition on it, like top-28 protected) for Dinwiddie is a move that will help the Warriors this year and next.
The Warriors might not make a trade — in fact, they probably won't make a trade — and any additions will likely come via the buyout market, but isn't a move for Dinwiddie that the kind of move the Warriors should be making?
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