The Warriors reportedly would trade rookie center James Wiseman and/or the Minnesota Timberwolves' top-three protected 2021 first-round pick under just one condition. They would have to acquire a "generational" superstar, the San Francisco Chronicle's Connor Letourneau reported Monday, citing a team source. "Golden State knows that any discussion for an All-Star-caliber player will begin with the other team asking for one or both of the franchise’s two biggest assets outside of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green: the top-three-protected 2021 pick from Minnesota and rookie center James Wiseman," Letourneau wrote Monday. "But according to a team source, the Warriors 'almost definitely' wouldn’t surrender that Timberwolves selection or Wiseman unless they got back someone generational such as Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo." Citing league sources, The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported Monday that the Warriors are interested in Victor Oladipo ahead of the trade deadline later this month. Warriors general manager and president of basketball operations Bob Myers told NBC Sports Bay Area last week that the Warriors won't give up a prized asset for a short-term push. Oladipo, 28, is months away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. "However, just because Golden State likes a multi-time All-Star who fits a win-now mindset doesn’t mean it is willing to mortgage its future to maybe win a postseason series," Letourneau wrote. "As is always the case with potential trade scenarios, the Warriors would have to see what they’d need to give up for Oladipo. Parting with a package that would hurt their odds of staying relevant long-term would almost certainly be a conversation-ender."
Of course. The Warriors were very smart. They tanked very hard last year and were rewarded with a top pick. Then they exploited a bad team (Wolves) and took on a lot of salary to get a strong #1 pick from Minnesota. Assuming the Warriors get the Wolves pick this year, they will have successfully executed the hardest part of a rebuild while missing the playoffs once because they were realistic, they maximized the injury to Curry and were proactive in finding away to get a lottery pick from another team. Sometimes it is better to chart a course and stick to it. This garbage from the Rockets front office of always hedging their bets isn’t always a smart course when the payoff for hedging is minimal and the cost is high. The Rockets aren’t getting anything special for Oladipo. He is about to turn 29 years old, is coming off a terrible injury, wants a maximum contract and hasn’t played well overall.
possible posturing? To trade for a generational talent you have to match the generational incoming salary. The only guy that comes close to that purpose on the gsw books is Wiggins. I doubt a minny pick and Wiggins nets a generational talent. Couple the fact that wiseman and a pick in likely 2022 won’t be immediate contributors to a team trying to send their legacy team off in a strong fairwell makes me believe they’re willing to take less than generational talent.
They weren’t smart enough to draft the best player in the draft because they thought he made a bad impression at black tie dinner parties or something
25 mil in lux tax savings is pretty generational; if Ws pursue Dipo they’ll know what to expect come summer. They and the agent will understand each other.
That's exactly what I've been saying about Oladipo. Why would a team give up big time assets for a rental? The team will want us to take back some trash contract. Hope we can at least get Justinian Jessup from Warriors foreign player rights in any deal with them.
Sure you have heard this @D-rock Cavs want 2 first round picks for Larry Nance jr. According to J. E. Skeets
If you are talking about Ball, I agree with you.... I also think they got greedy and went need over actual basketball ability.... they talked themselves into Wiseman and used his athleticism as a justification.... they are certainly not perfect, but what they did with the one year tank and the Wolves trade is quite smart. Maybe Wiseman becomes a 10 times all star, but I have to say, he seems to not be as mentally tough as Ball and some of the other players.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles...uston-rockets-fire-sale-at-the-trade-deadline As the Houston Rockets' losing streak stretched to 13 games before the All-Star break, rival front offices increasingly wondered whether new general manager Rafael Stone will launch an earnest rebuild and turn his team into a seller before the March 25 trade deadline. "They're starting to call teams," said one assistant general manager. In addition to Houston's most-whispered names, Victor Oladipo and P.J. Tucker, team executives polled by B/R are also curious whether the Rockets will look to move supporting players deeper in their rotation. They're specifically eyeing Houston's cadre of athletic, two-way wings like Danuel House Jr., Ben McLemore, Sterling Brown and Jae'Sean Tate. "I keep hearing they're going to fire-sale," said a rival scout. "Houston's gonna burn the house down," said another assistant general manager. [...] Questions persist about whether Rockets governor Tilman Ferittta will even be willing to endure a multi-season effort to juice his team's roster with high lottery picks. The franchise has grown accustomed to winning. Its last season below .500 came way back in 2005, when Harden was still in high school. "They need two, three years of draft," said a Western Conference official. "They just need to acquire young pieces and see where they go." But competing for the postseason was a factor in Houston's negotiations to move Harden, league sources said. The Rockets front office is considered to be lower on Caris LeVert than others, and Houston brass also did not feel Jarrett Allen would be a clean frontcourt match with Wood, sources said. A part of the Rockets' calculus for landing Oladipo instead of LeVert and Allen was his purported greater impact on contending for the playoffs. Choosing Oladipo over LeVert and Allen also steered Houston down the path of a potentially pricey contract extension. The two-time All-Star recently declined a two-year, $45.2 million extension with the Rockets, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and league executives polled by B/R have suggested that Oladipo is looking for a maximum salary over a long-term deal. That may ultimately cloud Oladipo's market if the Rockets were to look to move him. He has long been linked to South Beach, and he spent much of his rehab from his quadriceps tendon injury in Miami. "Miami's the one you always hear," said another rival scout. But the Heat, just like other contenders such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, are limited by what future draft capital they're allowed to move. And the New York Knicks are the only other potential Oladipo suitor that has truly been rumored thus far, sources said. It remains to be seen how seriously New York will pursue him. If the Rockets don't move Oladipo before the deadline, a sign-and-trade over the offseason appears to be the most likely outcome. Few executives expect the Rockets to commit long-term money for the centerpiece of their return for Harden, but they doubt Houston will lose him for nothing in free agency. "They're too smart to just whiff and get nothing off of him," said the Western Conference official. The landscape for dealing P.J. Tucker appears much greener. The Bucks, Nets, Heat, Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets have all expressed interest, sources said. Tucker would relish joining Philadelphia and former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, and the Sixers are one of the few contenders with real picks at their disposal. Around the draft, Houston's new front office could have gotten a late 2020 first-round pick for Tucker from Minnesota, league sources said. But the Rockets rebuffed moving Tucker at that time, sources said, as they still believed they could keep Harden and build another playoff contender around him. The Rockets have since been categorized as inconsistent with their asking price on Tucker. There has been a long-whispered rumor of Brooklyn possibly sending Spencer Dinwiddie to Houston for Tucker, and the Rockets are even said to have posed Miami trading either Tyler Herro or Duncan Robinson for him. For weeks, the Rockets were messaging that they would accept either a first-rounder or three second-round picks, sources told B/R. But Tucker's output has dropped significantly this season. He's shooting only 31.4 percent from three, his worst mark since 2012-13, and he's averaging only 4.6 rebounds one year after hauling in a career-high 6.6 per game. "If they had a first for him now, he'd already be gone," one general manager told B/R. "They're off their asking price," added the Western Conference official. "He's still a physical motherf--ker who can guard 2-5," said the Western Conference official. "I don't think he can guard Dame Lillard for 48 minutes like he did three years ago, but on a game's last possession, he can. Therein lies his value." Any team acquiring Tucker will have to consider his impending free agency, just like with Oladipo. He declined a two-year extension that Houston offered him earlier this season, sources said, which was less than $10 million in average annual value. And as salaries have ballooned across the league, this summer may be Tucker's last chance at a significant multiyear deal. "No matter where he goes, he wants to get paid," said the Wesern Conference official. Like Tucker, the bulk of Houston's roster consists of two-way, athletic wings almost tailor-made to support a superstar. All of House, Brown, Tate, McLemore, David Nwaba and Eric Gordon fit that build on paper, although there's little expectation the Rockets will move Gordon, sources said, and Nwaba will now miss six weeks due to hip surgery. Yet many teams could benefit from sending a second-round pick, maybe even two, if they're convinced any of the other swingmen are plug-and-play rotation pieces. House may be particularly appealing, as he's already under contract for roughly $3.9 million next season. But how far will Houston be willing to go into a rebuild? The Rockets front office has already made one long-term gamble. "I think the Kevin Porter [Jr.] trade was very telling," said one scout. "If we can rehab this guy, maybe he can turn into a player." Houston has since recalled Porter from the G League bubble, and he's expected to play significant minutes after the All-Star break, sources said. Off-court tension ended Porter's tenure in Cleveland, but he won't turn 21 until May, and he averaged 24.1 points, 7.3 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in 15 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Houston acquired him for only a top-55-protected 2024 second-rounder. "Rafael's a pretty shrewd operator," added the Western Conference official. Heading into the trade deadline, rival front offices are curious to learn how Houston's new lead executive will continue to operate. "I'm waiting for it all to explode," said an assistant general manager.
