Warriors Trade Rumors: Victor Oladipo Price 'Too Steep' for GSW to Consider

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

The Golden State Warriors may not be pursuing Houston Rockets star Victor Oladipo ahead of the NBA's March 25 trade deadline.

The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported March 8 that Golden State had shown interested in the 28-year-old guard. However, Anthony Slater of The Athletic followed up Wednesday to report Houston's asking price "has been too steep to even realistically consider."

Oladipo is averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists through 27 games with the Rockets and Indiana Pacers in 2020-21. He's also shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The two-time All-Star would relieve some burden from Stephen Curry. According to NBA.com, Golden State has a 112.7 offensive rating when Curry is on the court, and that number falls to 98.5 when he's on the bench. The latter figure would be last in the league by some distance.

The question is how much Oladipo would raise the franchise's short-term ceiling. He hasn't been the same player since his quad injury in January 2019, and his performance was already regressing from his career year in 2017-18.

The Warriors almost certainly won't be a serious title contender if Oladipo represents the biggest of their upgrades.

His contract status has to be a consideration as well. An unrestricted free agent in the offseason, he turned down a two-year, $45.2 million extension—the most the Rockets could offer at the time—in February, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

✨ Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content

Golden State is already committed to paying Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins $139.4 million in 2021-22.

While making the roster even more top-heavy is probably the Warriors' only path to another title with the trio of Curry, Green and Thompson, paying Oladipo $20 million or more annually wouldn't be a sensible investment.