Report: Warriors trading Willie Cauley-Stein to Mavericks

The Golden State Warriors are reportedly trading center Willie Cauley-Stein to the Dallas Mavericks. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The writing was a little bit on the wall for this one. Almost literally, as I penned a piece two days ago titled, “Is Willie Cauley-Stein Dallas-bound?” Turns out the answer was yes.

Dallas, who is playoff-bound with a 28-16 record that is sixth in the Western Conference, is in need of a big man after starting center Dwight Powell suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. And the Warriors, pressed up against the hard cap, are looking for ways to shed salary to open up money to convert the contracts of Ky Bowman and Marquese Chriss, who are on two-way deals.

Plus, with the development of Chriss and Omari Spellman, who have taken Warriors brass by surprise, Cauley-Stein just didn’t serve much of a purpose on the roster. And since he has a player option for next year, it guarantees that the Warriors open up another roster spot heading into next season.

In return, the Mavericks are sending the Warriors a 2020 second-round pick from the Utah Jazz.

It’s a little bit of a pick shuffle with these teams, as Golden State already owes their 2020 second-round pick to Dallas.

Cauley-Stein, a fifth-year pro, finishes his brief Warriors tenure averaging 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He appeared in 41 contests, and started 37 games.