Here's the article:

The home stand, the trade deadline, and the curse of low expectations

The NBA trade deadline looms: February 24th. Less than two weeks away, and the Dubs will be playing 17 of their next 20 games at home. Healthy roster now too, so no excuses, we are really going to see what this team is.

IQ of a Warrior linked to this article earlier today, and I wanted to put it up more prominently for our reading and discussion. In the article, Adam Lauridsen (who has written some truly great Warriors articles so far this season) makes a couple of key points about the Warriors future. With the Suns, Blazer, and Nuggets - heck, might as well throw in the Rockets-  looking weaker than they have in a while, this is a good season for the Dubs to slip into that 8th seed…or is it? I can’t say it any better than Adam did:

There are two clear reasons why taking "in the hunt" as "good enough" at the deadline would be a mistake for the team, and a black mark on the new owners early record.

First, and obviously, the long home stretch is going to be followed by a long road stretch.  Of the final 25 games this season, only 9 will be played at home.  If the Warriors are just under .500 at the trade deadline, chances are they’ll be further below .500 by the end of the season given the increasing toughness of the schedule. 

Of the players now getting regular minutes, only Curry and Udoh have significant upside.  Ellis and Wright are playing extremely well, but it’s unrealistic to expect them to give the Warriors much more.  Williams, Lee and Biedrins may play with a bit more consistency, but there’s no reason to think they’ll suddenly become good or even average defenders.  The remaining rotation players — Radmanovic, Amundson, Law — aren’t impact players, and are probably at the peak or on the downslope of their NBA careers.  So depending how bullish you are on Curry’s and Udoh’s ultimate upside, the Warriors could sit on their hands at the deadline, add a draft pick this summer, and hope to inch up a spot or two in West’s depth chart next year (assuming there is a next year, with no lockout).

I wrote a post earlier about how Steph and Monta can and should coexist on this team, but one of the common themes in the comments was that the Warriors just need to play better defense, and it does not seem as if either Steph or Monta is going to help them do that. Yes, improvements can be made, but there only seems to be ways to lessen this issue, not remove it. Further, it does seem (to me) like "being in the hunt" for the 8th seed is a legitimate goal for the season at this point. But it is equally clear that the roster needs some retooling before we are seriously talking playoffs, much less championships.

While I don’t agree with everything the article says, it got me thinking. Is now the right time to blow up the Warriors roster? If not now, then when? 

Well, obviously, if we can get a decent player by using our expiring contracts, the Dubs should pull the trigger on the deal. But sadly, it does not seem as if teams are anxiously lining up for our expiring contracts, and even if they were, we have to remember that we are not going to be getting a superstar (or even a mundane star) in exchange for nothing more than an expiring contract or two. BUT, we should be able to get someone who fills a need (defense at the wings).

arrgh, I miss these guys

via t1.gstatic.com

So what then? I just don’t know.

But, one thing I am sure of is that this situation will need to be addressed sooner or later; and this new ownership group is going to be defined to a large degree by what they do about it.

According to this other article

Warriors GM is working the phones, which is good news to me, but it sounds like no deals are imminent (and any sort of large deal sounds extremely unlikely)

"Sometime early in the ownership period, I would think there will probably be some kind of action," Riley said. "I don't know when, but I know that they want us to be working on major deals. Their intent is to be very active."

For what it's worth, I do think the Warriors will need to trade away at least one or two of our current starters, if not more. Building through the draft is not going to work for us, because we are not horrible enough to ensure a top three pick. If I was in charge, I would definately be pressing the phones to see if I could work out a deal. But probably reserving the Big Move for the offseason