The Golden State Warriors are now entitled to the 2nd overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft. They’re in a privileged position to go back to competing for an NBA Championship after one injury-riddled season that ended with them having the worst record in the league.
Obi Toppin, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Anthony Edward, Deni Avdija, among many other young prospects could fall into the Warriors’ lap at 2nd overall and adding any of those future stars would be great for their plans going forward.
Then again, the Warriors are believed to leaning towards trading that pick for a guy that could help them fight for a ring right away, a player that fits Stephen Curry’s timeline rather than trying to keep the dynasty going for many more years.
That’s why there’s been a lot of speculation regarding the possibility of them moving fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson to the Milwaukee Bucks along with that 2nd overall pick to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, who may force his way out of Wisconsin if the Bucks continue to underperform in the playoffs.
However, Warriors legend Chris Mullin believes trading Thompson for the Greek Freak would be a huge mistake, as he recently acknowledged in the Runnin’ Plays Podcast:
“No, because then you have to go looking for shooting again,” Mullin said.
Chris’ got a valid point here. As great as Giannis is, we’re talking about trading a guy who shoots 41.9% from deep per his career for someone who knocks down 28.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc.
A duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry looks great in the paper but neither Draymond Green nor Andrew Wiggins are solid three-point shooters. Giannis tends to struggle when he doesn’t have floor spacers around him and he just feels like an odd fit for Steve Kerr’s system.
So, if the Warriors want to trade one of their stars for Giannis, they should try and find the way to move Green and/or Wiggins instead of breaking their backcourt up.