No crueler twist of fate can befall a team than to suffer a critical injury right when it is finally hitting its stride. That’s what happened to the Golden State Warriors when Jimmy Butler tore his ACL. And the first game of the post-Jimmy injury era was discouraging, to say the least.
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Still reeling from losing the six-time All-Star forward, the Dubs got waxed at home by the Raptors, giving up a season-worst 145 points in the process. Things are unravelling in the Bay Area, and with the trade deadline just two weeks away, the front office needs to do whatever it can to salvage Steph Curry’s twilight years before it’s too late.
On The Dan Patrick Show, Reggie Miller sounded the alarm on the Warriors’ season even before the debacle against Toronto. “Halfway closed,” he said of the Warriors’ championship window.
“And especially now with the injury to Butler, almost closed, unless something drastically happens,” added Miller. But what kind of drastic move could the Warriors make?
There’s been smoke around a Jonathan Kuminga trade ever since he re-signed this summer, and especially since he requested to be moved last week. But general manager Mike Dunleavy didn’t make it seem like anything was imminent on that front. Miller said he likes the idea of trading Kuminga to the Kings for DeMar DeRozan.
However, DeRozan, like Steph and Draymond Green, is an older player who doesn’t do anything to set the team up down the line. What Miller really wants the Warriors to do is to make a huge splash by going for the biggest name out there.
“If I’m Stephen Curry, maybe I open up my Rolodex, and maybe it’s time that I call someone in the Midwest by the name of Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Miller said.
The NBA was rocked last year by the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade. That one was so shocking that nothing could compare to it. But if the Warriors somehow pulled off a Giannis deal, it’s probably the closest we could come to that high again.
Giannis and the Bucks have had a tumultuous relationship, and it seems to be getting even rockier. Milwaukee got crushed again on Wednesday night, and Giannis basically called the whole team out afterward. He has said that he won’t request a trade, but with each blowout loss, the odds get just a little greater that he might. If Steph calls, who knows?
As for what the Warriors would need to give up to get such a deal done, Miller said that he’d defer to Dunleavy on that one. “I don’t know how you do it,” he said. “You give up everyone but Stephen Curry, and hopefully not Draymond Green. But everyone else on the roster.”
Steph and Giannis are two of the most beloved players in the league, not to mention still two of the very best. Seeing their opposing styles on the same team is just too enticing to think about.
Instead of both of them going nowhere in their current dismal situations, perhaps something can be worked out to reinvigorate Golden State’s title chances while giving the Bucks a brighter future.
Miller showed his age with his Rolodex comment. But Steph will surely have Giannis’ number saved in his phone. Maybe it’s time to at least send a text.
