Should Stephen Curry's Injury Impact Warriors' NBA Trade Deadline Plans amid Rumors?
The Golden State Warriors need Stephen Curry healthy and on the court to be the best version of themselves. There's no player more critical to the team's success.
That's why the Warriors could be in at least a little bit of trouble at the moment.
Curry is dealing with partial tears to the superior tibiofibular ligaments and the interosseous membrane in his left leg. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the 34-year-old point guard will be out through the All-Star break. He's expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
If the season ended today, Golden State would be heading to the NBA play-in tournament. It has a 28-26 record after its win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, which has it in seventh in the Western Conference.
It's hard to imagine the Warriors moving up in the standings during Curry's absence, though. So should they react and make some type of move prior to the NBA trade deadline on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET?
Before Curry got hurt, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr indicated that the team was unlikely to swing any deals.
"I don't really expect anything to happen," Kerr said during an appearance on 95.7 The Game's Damon & Ratto last Friday (h/t Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area). "I don't anticipate anything happening, but you always have to be prepared for it."
The Warriors also couldn't have anticipated that they would be without Curry again anytime soon. But that's the situation they now find themselves in.
Still, Curry's injury doesn't seem like it will be a long-term issue. He should still be back in time to try to lead Golden State into the postseason, and then to try to lead it to a second straight NBA title.
ESPN's Zach Lowe shared his opinion on why the Warriors shouldn't be overly concerned about Curry's absence on The Lowe Post podcast on Monday.
"They're 7-8 for the season without Steph Curry," Lowe said (h/t Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area). "[Andrew] Wiggins missed a bunch of those games, too. He's back, but he still doesn't look like Wiggins yet. But he's fine. Their schedule over those 12 to 13 games is pretty easy, not pretty easy, it's just middling."
And those comments came prior to Monday's game. So Golden State is now .500 when Curry has been out of action this season.
There aren't many possible moves for the Warriors to make before the trade deadline that would likely be worth the capital they may have to part with. They have been tough to beat at home, and they can continue to rely on Wiggins, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and more.
So Lowe was right in saying that Golden State shouldn't be in panic mode. If it made some type of huge move to shake things up just because of Curry's injury, it would be reacting irrationally.
Curry seems likely to be back well before the end of the regular season. That should give him time to rest a bit before the postseason and prepare his best to try to lead the Warriors on another deep run.
