Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob was a guest on The Athletic’s NBA Show recently. He explained why trades in the NBA are so complicated to complete. He noted that GMs in the league want to prove they are smart and show they are doing a good job, and figuring out all the details to make deals work usually takes a long time to figure out.
“There are three ways to get better in this league: One is to draft, building through the draft; another is free agency; and the final one is trades. And trades are the hardest. It’s very, very hard to pull off trades because everyone wants to prove how — these GMs — how smart they are. It’s true. And they want to impress their owners; sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.
“But here’s the problem — if I could share anything with the fans out there… They don’t understand how hard it is and how illogical some of the parties on the other side are sometimes. Maybe we’re illogical too, to some extent, but my point is it’s just really, really hard to pull these things off. And everyone writes all this stuff and they have no idea what the other side’s asking for in some of these things.”
18:30 onwards
Lacob provides some unique insight from the perspective of an NBA team owner. Fans had always known that trades are never as easy as just putting players and assets on the table. There is a great deal of negotiation between multiple sides.
And given the competitive nature of the league, all sides are trying to ensure the best deal for themselves while simultaneously also trying to weaken their trade partners.
Golden State Warriors Active In Trade Market
Joe Lacob will have very recent first-hand experience dealing with the trade market. The Golden State Warriors recently completed a deal to sign Buddy Hield in a sign-and-trade with several other teams. Hield was brought in to replace Klay Thompson, who left the Warriors after 13 years of service.
And it doesn’t end there for the Warriors. They are currently in talks with the Utah Jazz to work out a deal that sends Lauri Markkanen to the Warriors in exchange for Moses Moody and multiple draft picks. But the Jazz are complicating the matter by demanding the Warriors’ young core of Jonathan Kuminga and Brandon Podziemski.
Fans will have to keep an eye out to see if a deal between the two sides works out Markkanen will bring the Warriors back to contention, especially after they lost Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, two veteran players with playoff experience.
Markkanen had a great season last year, averaging 23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. Adding a two-way player like Lauri next to Stephen Curry and Draymond Green would once again make the Warriors contenders in the West, and possibly elongate the Warriors dynasty that started 10 years ago.
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