It is no secret that the Warriors need to make a move ahead of the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, but things get tricky when it comes to what they're willing and able to give up in return.
Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Pascal Siakam is one of the names that has been tied to the Warriors, among several other teams, as trade rumors heat up. Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Chris Paul are a handful of Warriors players tied into the loop of a potential package with Toronto, but it might not be enough.
ESPN's NBA insider Marc Spears joined "NBA Today" last Friday and explained why it could be difficult for Golden State to pull off the trade for Siakam.
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"I like a potential Pascal Siakam trade. The Warriors definitely need a No. 2 scorer, he could be that. He's had a great season," Spears said. "To do that, though, it's going to hit you. You're probably going to have to trade Kuminga to do that. Wiggins, I was told by a GM that there's not a lot of value for Wiggins right now, although you can package him and Kuminga together.
"You can package Kuminga and CP to make it happen. But theWarriors desperately need to make a trade and that's one of them they can do."
Wiggins continues to struggle through 35 games this season, averaging a career-low 11.7 points on 41.8-percent shooting from the field and 29.5 percent from 3-point range, with 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 26.2 minutes.
Golden State Warriors
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski added that the Warriors must be ready to "max out" Siakam if they trade for him, as he is set to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 NBA season.
"Pascal Siakam is going to have a lot of voice about where he's going to get traded because he's going to be a free agent this summer," Wojnarowski said. "And so, if you are trading for Pascal Siakam, you have to be ready to max him out, you've got to know he wants to be there and you have to have a package out there that makes sense for Toronto.
"They've been engaged for really a couple years on Siakam. Because he could walk at the end of the season, they haven't gotten anywhere on doing an extension together. I think for the Warriors the risk is, 'OK, what do we want to do with our payroll? Are we willing to max out Pascal Siakam?' Because there are teams with cap space this summer that are going to be willing to do it."
While some reports have made it clear that Golden State has no interest in moving on from 21-year-old Kuminga, conflicting reports suggest the Warriors have an "everyone but Steph Curry" mindset with a little more than three weeks to go until the trade deadline.
The Warriors undoubtedly have an interest in Siakam, but it's going to be a difficult pathway for them to figure something out to get a deal done.
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