The Warriors were aggressively pursuing Giannis Antetokounmpo and looking to offload Jonathan Kuminga at the same time, before eventually settling for Kristaps Porzingis instead.
But according to ESPN’s NBA insiders Ramona Shelbourne and Marc J. Spears, the Warriors were also interested in Jaren Jackson Jr. before the Jazz enticed the Grizzlies with a better offer.
“A couple of weeks ago, the Warriors had some pretty extensive conversations with the Memphis Grizzlies about Jaren Jackson Jr. They tabled those conversations because I think the Warriors were talking about sending those two first-round picks, and it would’ve been a similar type of deal to what Utah did,” said Shelbourne during her recent appearance on ESPN’s NBA trade deadline special.
“But then Giannis was maybe available, and so they tabled those conversations because they needed those picks in the Giannis trade, and then Utah came in with three 1st round picks, and now [Warriors] come out at the end here with Kristaps Porzingis.”
“But look, he’s earning $31 million this year on an expiring contract. This man is playing to prove he’s healthy. He’s playing to prove he has a spot in the NBA next year, that he can be healthy, that he can contribute. That’s a pretty low-risk move for a guy who atleast analytically incredible metrics,” concluded Shelbourne.
Marc J. Spears also pondered during his recent interview on the ‘Willard and Dibs show’ on whether the Warriors missed out on a chance to land Jaren Jackson Jr. due to the distraction of negotiating with the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
On one side, the Warriors fans would want to let bygones be bygones and not dwell on missed opportunities. On the other hand, a closer inspection would tell them that while Porzingis is a low-risk move, he’s nowhere close to what they could have had with Jaren Jackson Jr.
Porzingis averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game in the 17 games he has played this season. He shot 45.7% from the floor and 36.0% from the three-point line during those fixtures.
The last time he played over 60 games in a season was three seasons ago (2022-23), before which he hadn’t done that since going all the way back to 2016-17. Therefore, it is reasonable to establish that teams have understood he is an injury-prone player and not the franchise cornerstone material he once was considered to be.
Meanwhile, Jaren Jackson Jr. is averaging 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game in the 44 games he has played this season. He shot 47.5% from the field and 35.9% from beyond the arc in those games.
Upon a close look, you can see that Jackson Jr. has objectively done better in three out of four major comparison stats while being more efficient from the floor.
Even though neither of these two players would be as good as Giannis Antetokounmpo could potentially have been, maybe the Warriors missed out on a solid and more reliable option than Porzingis.
Considering that reports suggest Antetokounmpo may not like the idea of coming to Golden State to avoid following Kevin Durant’s ring-chasing legacy, the Warriors seem to have missed out on a chance to add a more reliable option in the frontcourt than Porzingis.
