Warriors Star Trade Idea After Missing Out On LeBron James

The Golden State Warriors did not land LeBron James. Without that move—which probably wouldn't have guaranteed contention on its own—Golden State's offseason looks like one of the worst in the league.

The Warriors have just 10 players under contract. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody might be out for the entire season. Kristaps Porziņģis may be the single biggest injury/availability risk in the league. Al Horford is 40. Draymond Green is 36 (and not even re-signed yet).

And Stephen Curry, heading into his age-38 campaign, may be doomed to finish his legendary career drilling threes for a lottery team.

He's earned more desperation than Golden State's front office has shown to date. And even after missing out on LeBron, there's still time to give it.

Butler's expiring contract could be paired with multiple firsts to go after some high-dollar players and at least give Curry and the Warriors a puncher's chance at one last deep playoff run.

The Deal

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Before we get into why each team would do this, it always helps to see the entire deal in one frame.

Golden State Warriors Receive: Lauri Markkanen and John Konchar

Utah Jazz Receive: Jimmy Butler, Yaxel Lendeborg and first-round picks in 2028, 2030 and 2032

Feel free to quibble over the number of picks involved. Some smaller contracts could get thrown in too. But this foundation makes sense, and we'll explain below.

Warriors Land a Potential Kerr-Ball Star in Markkanen

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Golden State Warriors Receive: Lauri Markkanen and John Konchar

Lauri Markkanen may not move the needle quite as dramatically as Warriors fans would like, but they're not brimming with the kind of trade assets that could've landed a Giannis Antetokounmpo-level player.

Heck, with the Utah Jazz's apparent desire to be competitive this season, this package may not even be enough for them to part with Markkanen.

But if it was, Markkanen could be the best player Curry's played with since Kevin Durant left (and I say that acknowledging that Golden State won a post-KD title in 2022).

Markkanen is one of the best and most unique play finishers in the NBA. There is almost no wasted movement or dribbles from him on the offensive end. It's mostly catch and shoot, catch and dunk or catch and keep it moving.

It's why he's perennially among the league leaders in points per touch, and why he'd instantly be one of Kerr's favorite players.

He'd draw a ton of attention away from Curry, give Green another reliable target on offense and generally juice an offense that could be very underwhelming without another move this offseason.

Jazz Add More Assets and Prolong the Rebuild Just a Bit Longer

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Utah Jazz Receive: Jimmy Butler, Yaxel Lendeborg and first-round picks in 2028, 2030 and 2032

Again, Utah could take some convincing to pull the trigger on this move, but Walker Kessler would've fit the directional shift toward winning, and the Jazz just traded him because the Los Angeles Lakers overpaid for him.

You could argue that the Warriors have more reason to overpay than L.A., and that's what this deal represents.

Markkanen is good and a particularly interesting fit in Golden State, but there aren't a lot of other teams that would give up an expiring contract, an interesting rookie forward (who's younger than Markkanen) and three first-round picks for him.

And while this move would obviously delay Utah's turn toward competitiveness, Yaxel Lendeborg is a little closer to the developmental timeline of Darryn Peterson.

The mountain of assets from this deal and the Kessler trade would also give the Jazz the ammo they might need to go after the next superstar who becomes available.