This piece originally appeared in our twice-weekly sports newsletter Section 415. Sign up for the newsletter here and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen.
Steph Curry and the Warriors have already played 20% of their schedule, but it seems as if none of the results from the first month of the regular season carry much significance.
Sure, Golden State won an overtime thriller against Denver and took a pair of dramatic games from San Antonio on the road, but Steve Kerr’s team also lost to Portland, Sacramento, and an abysmal Indiana squad. Those results suggest the Warriors are good enough to beat great teams and bad enough to lose on any given night.
In the first four weeks of the season, Curry has three 40-point games, Draymond Green has locked down Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama, and a young contingent that includes Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and rookie Will Richard has played complementary roles in big wins but failed to step up and anchor the team on other nights.
In other words, we haven’t learned anything revelatory about this team.
Some NBA fans say the season doesn’t really begin until Christmas. More casual observers don’t start tuning in until the All-Star break. This year, it seems the Warriors’ season will finally kick into gear when they send out a public signal that it’s go-time.
It’s unfair to call this stage of the season glorified cardio, but for a team with four key players over the age of 35 and a bevy of role players who can’t carry the load when the stars need rest, everyone is waiting for a shakeup that seems more inevitable with each passing day.
The Standard’s Tim Kawakami has provided an early glimpse at possible trade targets, and it should come as no surprise when GM Mike Dunleavy starts working the phones in January. In his 17th season, Curry is still playing at a level that should compel the front office to operate with urgency and part with younger talent and future draft picks to give their superstar more help.
Jonathan Kuminga, who has missed four consecutive games with a knee injury, has always been the most likely player to be dealt. Executives around the league will inquire about Moody, Podziemski, and draft picks, and the Warriors’ willingness to part with the players and assets who can help in the future may depend on how healthy Curry, Green, and Jimmy Butler are in January.
The Warriors almost certainly can’t pull off a deal that rivals their trade for Butler in February. At best, they’ll land a player or two who fit their closing lineup and raise the ceiling on what’s possible this season.
Will it be enough to compete with Oklahoma City? Probably not, but a significant trade could provide Golden State with the firepower needed to overcome every other Western Conference team in a seven-game playoff series.
From now until January, the Warriors are playing to figure out what they might need, and whom they might be willing to part with. The countdown to more relevant games is on. We just don’t know when it will end.