Toughness?
Competitiveness?
That’s what the Warriors showed in Wednesday’s hold-on-for-dear-life win over the Timberwolves — a contest they led 34-12 after one quarter but ended with a one-point margin of victory?
Sure, we can go with that, Steph Curry.
There is, of course, another way of looking at it: The Warriors — who have won eight of their last 25 games — showed all the warts that have turned this season into a slow-moving, often-losing, slog in a win.
Suffice it to say I wouldn’t put that W up on the mantle.
Still, a few days after publicly going through the acceptance stage of grief, Curry decided to revert to bargaining.
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“All the Twitter fingers who got deals we need to make can kind of shut up a little bit and let us figure this thing out,” Curry told ESPN after the game.
Well, Steph, I don’t tweet (or BlueSky, or whatever else there is) anymore, but a one-point win in Minnesota — especially that win — doesn’t change my mind that this team needs to make a deal for a true No. 2 to play alongside Curry.
I figured that out this time last year. The Warriors have undoubtedly noted the issue—they’re subscribers.
Yet still, the problem persists.
And despite a trip to the hospital on Wednesday for a lacerated left index finger — an avocado was the culprit, as you could have guessed — I put my fingers to work for this column and came up with the be-all-to-end-all trade:
Folks, it’s time to bring Kevin Durant back to the Warriors.
(Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Not only is it what’s best for the Warriors the next two or three years — Steph’s so-bright twilight — but there’s also a level of poetry to it.
Whereas Durant first arrived in the Bay as a surplus to needs, he’d now be coming to the Warriors as a savior. That shift in impetus could — should — change his perceived legacy here and around the league.
As Marvel has told us over the last few decades, it’s always a good time to get the Avengers back together. If nothing else, it’s box office.
And let’s be honest here: neither the Warriors nor the Suns will win a ring anytime soon. Not as currently constructed.
But one should make a push this season.
I don’t see the Suns in a position to maximize this season. Their top-heavy roster isn’t built for it.
But the Warriors and their bottom-heavy roster? They can shuffle enough around to make things interesting with a trade.
Yet the Warriors want to keep talking about the future. What about the present?
Yes, the Dubs might be a play-in tournament team right now, but outside of Oklahoma City, is there a team that should be genuinely feared in the West?
Put Durant on the Warriors, and I like the Dubs’ chances against Houston, Memphis, and Denver in a seven-game series. Clearly, the Timberwolves are not a title contender, and the Mavs just lost to the Pelicans, so something is rotten there.
Jeez, as of Thursday morning, the Clippers were No. 5 in the West, with the Lakers at No. 6.
The West, save for that top spot, is wide open.
Take action.
(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
It doesn’t have to be Durant, of course. Zion Williamson is worth a discussion (though his fit with the Warriors and next to Draymond Green would be clunky at best), as is Zach Lavine (his teams have won 37 percent of games he’s played in, which seems like a red flag). It seems as if the Dubs want nothing to do with Jimmy Butler, though he’d be a great on-court fit.
But when it comes to timeline alignment, fit, and pedigree, Durant is the best option.
A trade would give the Suns, who overdid it when Mat Ishbia bought the team, a chance to re-set around Devin Booker. It’d give the Warriors a chance to be competitive — and certainly more than relevant — in a Western Conference that’s up for grabs while Steph, Durant, and Green still have good basketball to play.
Here’s the trade as a two-team deal. The more, of course, the merrier:
Warriors receive: F – Kevin Durant, C – Oso Ighodaro, 2026 second-round pick
Suns receive: F – Jonathan Kuminga, F- Andrew Wiggins, G – Gary Payton II, F – Buddy Hield, 2026 first-round pick (Top-10 protected), 2028 first-round pick (Lottery protected)
In it, the Warriors maintain their first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029, 2030 (bottom-third restriction), and 2031. If this all blows up, that’s enough to rebuild, no?
It also punts the Kuminga contract problem to Phoenix. The Warriors clearly don’t want to commit to the Congolese forward long-term. But the Suns would get younger and a bit cheaper at power forward. Perhaps Kuminga will become the player he believes he should be in a more traditional pick-and-roll attack.
But, more importantly for the Suns, they’d land a couple of first-round picks in this trade. Somehow, the Suns only own their 2031 first-round pick after trading for Durant and Bradley Beal — they need to re-stock now, or they’ll be looking at a full-scale rebuild in a year or two.
Can Durant coexist with Green? Would he be eager to return to the Bay? I want to find out the hard way.
Perhaps you see this trade as a lose-lose.
That, to me, is a double-negative.
Or, in other words, a win.
