The Golden State Warriors could fine-tune their roster by trading away some of their immense guard talent for a quality starting center this season.
Warriors are getting elite play from Buddy Hield and Andrew Wiggins early
The Warriors (5-1) have shown no signs of slowing down in the post-Klay Thompson era. Buddy Hield has stepped into Thompson’s shoes and has given Golden State a team-high 22.2 points per game behind an eye-opening average of five three-pointers at an even more eye-catching connect rate of 51.7 percent.
Andrew Wiggins is also dominating in limited minutes, boasting 18.5 PPG and 5.8 rebounds in only 26.8 minutes a night. While superstar Stephen Curry is off to a sluggish start to the campaign, the Warriors are showing that they have much help around him. Nevertheless, they need a couple more pieces to return to championship glory.
That being said, Golden State has Curry, Hield, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and Lindy Waters III all manning backcourt duties. All are seeing at least 15 minutes per contest. From an early glimpse, Hield looks like an absolute keeper as the premier sixth man in the league. Podziemski has also shown great playmaking abilities through his first two years in the league.
Warriors could move Moses Moody while his stock is high
That leaves Moody, Payton II, Melton, and Waters III as players that Golden State’s front office could leverage for a starting five. The Warriors have not exuded the level of confidence that they’ve sparingly flirted with showing Moody through his tenure in the Bay thus far. It might be an opportune time to see what he can yield on the open market behind his current 10.7 PPG on 51.2 percent shooting from the field and 51.7 percent shooting from distance. He has breakout potential and a history of making timely buckets in the playoffs.
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The Warriors could also make a decision on who they want as their sole backup floor general between Payton II and Melton. The former brings exceptional on-ball defense and typically, timely shooting from trey off the catch, while Melton can get to his spots inside the arc, spot up from deep with precision and control the pace of the game.
With strong two-way centers like Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz) and Clint Capela (Atlanta Hawks) dominating trade rumors, the Warriors could compile a trade package centered around a combination of Moody, Payton II or Melton, and Waters III along with draft assets to either rebuilding franchises for centers who could magnify their pick-and-roll and protect the rim. Or, the Warriors can come out of left field per usual and make a power-play investment on Ben Simmons, who the Brooklyn Nets are reportedly preparing to move off of. The 6-10 point forward has All-Defensive capabilities, the size to man the middle, and the talent to solidify Golden State as the elite passing team in the Association again.
