NBA Rumors: Warriors Right to Sacrifice Trade Assets to Secure Lottery Pick

The Golden State Warriors need to add some players to the roster who will immediately start putting more people in the seats. That's why they are right to sacrifice future trade assets in order to definitively lock down their lottery pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

The Warriors currently have a 72 percent chance of retaining the pick, as it is top-seven protected, but the team is looking to strike a deal with the Utah Jazz so they can be 100 percent sure that they don't have to send the pick to the Jazz.

The pick was originally sent to the now-Brooklyn Nets but now belongs to the Jazz as part of the Deron Williams deal that was completed back in February of 2011.

To keep the pick no matter what, the Warriors have a few options in regards to what compensation they would need to give Utah. According to ESPN, the Warriors would have to offer future draft considerations, financial compensation and a reduction of the restrictions that are currently imposed on the Jazz for the future pick that is to be awarded to them in either 2013 or 2014.

This is what the Warriors need to do after tanking their 2012 season, in which they traded away Monta Ellis for Andrew "Bones of Glass" Bogut. Their fans obviously weren't happy about that, as they nearly booed Joe Lacob out of the building on the night when Chris Mullin's number was retired.

The team doesn't have a main attraction. With the exception of Stephen Curry (when he's on the court) and David Lee, they don't have a player that anybody would want to go watch play on a nightly basis. That's exactly why they need to secure this pick.

Can you imagine the fan mutiny that ownership would face if the team lost their lottery pick in the 2012 NBA draft? Most of the fans wouldn't even know why it happened, they would just chalk it up to bad ownership. If Joe Lacob doesn't want to find himself in an even more precarious position, he'll make sure this deal gets done.

If they do wind up drawing in the top-seven, they could draft Harrison Barnes, a small forward who could do wonders for them. He's so smooth with everything he does and creates high percentage shots for himself. He's a great shooter, not as pure as Curry, but he can shoot over taller defenders than Curry can.

If the Warriors can get Barnes, they suddenly won't look so incompetent. A few other things would have to work out in their favor, but they would have Curry at point guard (if he stays healthy), Klay Thompson playing shooting guard, Barnes at the three, Lee at the four and Bogut playing center (if he can get healthy).

That's a lot of things that have to go the Warriors' way, when so many things already haven't, but Lacob needs to make sure this pick stays with Golden State, because even a dud of a pick is better than no pick at all right now.