It seems that if the Golden State Warriors would have been a little more patient in June, they might have had a serious shot at having a new “Big Four” next season.
The Golden State Warriors entered the offseason with two clear goals. Re-sign Draymond Green and do whatever they could to improve the roster. The latter priority was forged after the team fell short in defending their championship when they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals of this year’s postseason.
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While the Warriors don’t have the salary cap space or a horde of premium draft picks to include in any trades, they still have assets that rival teams will see value in. For example, they moved talented scorer Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards last month and received future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul in return.
NBA insider suggest Golden State Warriors could have been in running for Damian Lillard
However, a new report claims that if they would have waited a little longer, they probably might have had a real shot at Damian Lillard. During a recent appearance on 95.7 The Game’s Mark Willard and Dan Dibley show, ESPN NBA insider Ramona Shelburne revealed an interesting piece of information about the current Damian Lillard market.
“They had another choice. They could have waited for Dame. Dame is from the Bay Area. I know he was interested. If he got to the point where he was going to ask for a trade and the list was given [to the organization], the Warriors initially would have been on that list. But now it’s not possible because of the move they made [trading for Chris Paul].”
– Ramona Shelburne
The Golden State Warriors had the league’s last super team when they were able to add Kevin Durant to the already stellar trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. It would have been interesting to see how Lillard could have fit into their team, but in this current small-ball-driven era if any team could have made it work, it would have been Golden State.
Lillard recently asked for a trade out of Portland and has indicated the Miami Heat is the only place he is willing to move to. However, if the Golden State Warriors were an option he certainly could have forced his way there as well.