Trade winds have been circling the Golden State Warriors for some time now. While star-level wing players like Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram, and Zach LaVine have dominated most of the headlines, the Warriors are reportedly looking to go in a different direction. According to ESPN’s Marc Spears, Golden State is prioritizing a big man over Butler. An additional wing scorer would be nice, but the team wants to go bigger. Not in terms of star power but sheer physicality.
Additionally, Anthony Slater of The Athletic recently provided more insight into Golden State’s search for a big man. According to Slater, a move for a top-tier star may not be in the cards. However, the Warriors may be narrowing down its preferred center in the trade market to Nikola Vucevic.
“Obviously the name I’ve heard and has been bounced around is Vucevic. I’ve been talking to the franchise for a while now. They understand that stretch five is something they lack and would really help unlock some of the lineups that are kind of handcuffed.”
How Warriors Big Man Trade Target Fits With Golden State
Nikola Vucevic’s 2024-25 Season Overview
Whether motivated by the idea of raising his trade value and escaping the mediocrity of basketball in the Windy City or some other exterior motive, Vucevic has been enjoying one of his most efficient and productive campaigns for quite some time. While he may not be producing numbers that rival those of his All-Star days with the Orlando Magic, he is showing himself to be a capable and multi-faceted starting caliber stretch-big.
At 34, Vucevic will likely be at the tail-end of his prime. However, He has shown this year that he still has a fair amount left in the tank. The big man is currently averaging 20.3 points per game (his highest average since 2020-21) with a career-best 43.3% hit rate from deep. While Vucevic has never been known for his defense — his 0.8 steals per game and 0.7 blocks per game are certainly nothing to write home about — the Warriors should have enough defensive oomph on their roster to compensate for Vucevic’s shortcomings.
Trade Target Nikola Vucevic’s Projected Fit with the Warriors
If the Warriors are in the market for frontcourt support, they could do much worse than Vucevic. Their current big-man rotation of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kevon Looney, and Draymond Green offers plenty of defensive and rebounding versatility. But it’s fairly one-dimensional on the offensive end. Vucevic would immediately provide Golden State’s offense with increased spacing and playmaking. While he may be slightly more spry than a player like 38-year-old Al Horford or 36-year-old Brook Lopez, the Warriors would likely hope for the big man to offer a similar display of floor spacing and veteran know-how.
During the Stephen Curry era, the Warriors have not had a floor-spacing big of Vucevic’s caliber. Players like Nemanja Bjelica and Dario Saric have done a decent job of providing Steve Kerr with the ability to experiment with different variations of five-out lineups. During the Warriors’ 2021-22 championship run, Bjelica played a not insignificant role in providing the team with just enough shooting and playmaking from the center position to bring some variation and quirkiness to a handful of different lineups. Golden State is likely hoping that acquiring Vucevic will result in a similar —if not even greater — boost to their offense.
The Last Word
Whether that added level of shooting and playmaking from the center spot will be enough to help the overall competitiveness of the Warriors remains to be seen. Sitting at 19-19, however, Golden State can no longer afford to stand pat. If the Warriors decide to pull the trigger on a Vuecevic trade, it will be fascinating to see what they are willing to give up.
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