Warriors Should Maximize Curry's Title Window by Trading Young Core Amid NBA Rumors

Golden State's championship window with Steph Curry closes a bit more with every passing year, making it much more important for the organization to maximize the years the future Hall of Famer has left by surrounding him with the talent necessary to win now.

The team appears to recognize as much, with Brett Siegel of Clutch Points reporting that the organization is more willing to discuss trading its young core players in return for veteran experience in pursuit of another NBA title.

Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and Moses Moody have all shown flashes of future excellence but have either not done so consistently or have underwhelmed this season. That Kuminga and the team appear to be far apart on contract discussions makes the willingness to move the team's former "future face" greater.

According to Siegel, the championship-hungry Warriors have their eyes on several potential additions. He wrote, "Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kyle Kuzma, Nikola Vucevic, Jonas Valanciunas, Bruce Brown, Donte DiVincenzo, Matisse Thybulle, and De'Andre Hunter are all players that have been on Golden State's radar in recent weeks, sources said."

He also added Jimmy Butler and Zach LaVine as potential targets if the right deal emerges.

The loss to Atlanta in the NBA Cup tournament reportedly caused the emphasis on exploring all options, including trading the young talent, and one cannot fault the front office for taking that approach.

Curry is averaging 22 points, five rebounds, 6.4 assists, and is shooting 44.3 percent from the paint. At age 36, he is not the dominant player he was at the height of his game but he is still a leader who has won at the highest levels and can put a game away with a flurry of threes.

The other member of the Warriors' championship dynasty, Draymond Green, is also not the showstopping big man he once was, making it even more important for the Warriors to surround their cornerstones with talent that fits what head coach Steve Kerr wants to do and can do it more consistently than Kuminga, Moses, and Podziemski.

Rather than waiting around for those three to develop into the stars the organization hoped they would become, and allowing them to become distractions as Kuminga, his spot in the lineup and his contract have been, trading them for Kuzma, Johnson, Finney-Smith, or any of the other veteran players who can come in and positively impact play on the court is the right move.

Even if it means a potentially seasons-long rebuild once Curry and Green inevitably call it a career.