Are the Warriors serious?
Does this team want to be in the mix to win the Western Conference this upcoming season?
Because, again, there’s only one way for that to happen — the team needs to trade for Utah forward Lauri Markkanen.
And, by all accounts, that trade is available for them to make.
If only they’d make it.
As of this weekend, there’s a new delay: the Warriors are making Brandin Podziemski a dealbreaker. According to both the Athletic and NBA Insider Marc Stein, if Podz is in the deal with Utah, there’s no deal.
Yes, the Dubs really, really, really like the second-year man out of Santa Clara.
And what’s not to like?
He’s a jack of all trades, a positive-energy guy, a high-floor youngster who always seems to be on the floor. He’s a rock-solid role player.
Or, in short, he’s something every good team needs: a glue guy.
But what is he holding together in San Francisco?
All the Warriors have done this offseason is re-arrange the deck chairs on the SS Mediocre. And even that took some serious doing.
The team’s biggest issue last season — the issue that left them as the final team to make the postseason (or whatever the hell the Play-In Tournament is) which earned them an additional two-and-a-half quarters of basketball — has not been solved. This team still lacks a viable second offensive option next to Curry.
And until that problem is solved, all the positive press and good vibrations emanating from Chase Center rings hollow.
The Warriors had a problem and they are yet to fix it. And I can tell you that a lot of other teams in a loaded Western Conference identified their issues and did their best to rectify them this offseason. (Except for the two L.A. teams — great job, guys!)
Kuminga isn’t that No. 2. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. (And he’s about to get expensive.)
Andrew Wiggins isn’t the No. 2, either. His 2022 playoff run was, I’m convinced, a mirage.
But no one has seriously suggested that Podziemski can jump into that role. Not now, not ever.
Sorry, Joe Lacob, but Podz is not “a future All-Star.” Get serious.
Markkanen, however, is an All-Star. He’s also a No. 2. Oh, and he’s available today — meaning he can help Steph Curry make something of his final NBA seasons.
What else matters?
It should also be noted that Markkanen is the only viable No. 2 available to the Warriors at the moment.
It’s a seller’s market, and you have to give something up to get something back.
Podziemski is not a precious commodity. The Warriors need to stop treating him like one.
I’d go as far to say getting Markkanen for Podziemski and some picks would be a coup for the Dubs. Instead, they’re jeopardizing whatever chance this team has in the present for the sake of a wishful-thinking future.
There’s simply no need to overthink this.
The Jazz like Podziemski because he’s the modern version of Utah’s GM — Danny Ainge. The Warriors like Podz because good, arguably projectable role players on cheap contracts are hard to find.
Sure, it could be posturing amid a standoff, but the Warriors better stop messing around: other teams are interested in the sweet-shooting big man.
No, it seems more likely that the Warriors are making the same mistake twice: They’re going for two timelines — the present and the future.
And in that effort, they’ll ensure they have no timelines.
Let me tell you, two in hand is better than two in the bush.
To be fair, these are hardly the early stages of negotiation. Markkanen is extension eligible as of Aug. 6. Consider that a deadline for a deal, thanks to some arcane NBA trade rules.
Don’t get me wrong, Podziemski is a fine player and his success as a rookie was a godsend for the Dubs. He’s cheap, he’s effective. He’s an asset.
But he doesn’t solve the Warriors’ biggest issue.
Markkanen does.
What’s there to discuss?