What ESPN identifies as Warriors’ ‘impact’ offseason transaction

What ESPN identifies as Warriors’ ‘impact’ offseason transaction originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors have had quite the eventful NBA offseason.

So far, Golden State has lost two future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honorees and has yet to replace them with the star power Dub Nation yearns to see.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks assessed the Warriors’ busy offseason in his latest article, revealing what he believes to be Golden State’s most impactful transaction.

“The impact transaction: The Warriors had two options this offseason with Klay Thompson: sign the future Hall of Famer and continue living in the luxury tax and first apron, or reroute him to a team such as Dallas in a sign-and-trade,” Marks wrote.

“Thompson to the [Dallas] Mavericks not only resulted in future financial flexibility but also brought back veterans [Kyle] Anderson and [Buddy] Hield as part of the trade. Golden State would also sign [De’Anthony] Melton to the $12.8 million non-tax midlevel exception.”

Losing Thompson to Dallas stunned Golden State, its fans and the rest of the NBA world. The 14-year veteran seemed to be a Warrior for life, for so long. However, things changed quickly.

But Thompson’s departure did, in fact, net Golden State some valuable assets, as Marks mentioned.

The Warriors were able to land Anderson from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Hield from the Philadelphia 76ers, two proven veterans. Golden State, too, gained the financial flexibility needed to sign another solid role player from Philadelphia in Melton during free agency.

The trio of new Warriors helped the franchise quietly recover after losing half of the “Splash Brothers.”

The newcomers also can produce similarly to Thompson, if not better, in the aggregate. Thompson, who averaged 17.9 points on 38.7-percent shooting on 3-pointers during the 2023-24 NBA season, is in decline, and Hield, Anderson and Melton are three players coming off of impactful playoff runs.

Thompson, of course, shot 0 for 10 in the Warriors’ season-ending loss to the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

In addition to revisiting Thompson’s departure,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-identifies-warriors-impact-offseason-235126046.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-07-20 23:51:26

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