Warriors stand pat at the deadline

As was expected, the NBA trade deadline arrived and departed, and the Golden State Warriors roster still looks the same.

As is always the case this time of year, a flurry of moves were made at the deadline, which was at 12:00 p.m. PT on Thursday. But for the first time in a few years, the Dubs stood pat.

This was to be expected. The Warriors don’t have any glaring holes on their roster, but more importantly, didn’t really have any trade assets they were willing to part with. Golden State’s role players are divided into two camps: veterans who provide more value to the Dubs than they would in any trade (Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damion Lee, and Gary Payton II), and youngsters who the team sees as building blocks and would not be likely to part with (Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, James Wiseman). It was hard to envision any framework for a deal.

Prior to the deadline, Steve Kerr (in a moment that Steve Nash might want to take note of), said that while a move could happen, he wasn’t anticipating one.

Steph Curry then echoed the sentiment.

Just because the Warriors didn’t make a trade doesn’t mean their roster is entirely set for the rest of the year. They could still sign a buyout candidate, though it would require waiving one of their own players. They could also drop one of their two-way contracts (Chris Chiozza and Quinndary Weatherspoon) and sign a different player in their place, though that player would not be eligible for the postseason roster.

Not surprisingly, a buyout signing isn’t incredibly likely.

While the Warriors stood pat, two other contenders made big moves that rocked the NBA landscape, as the Philadelphia 76ers ended their long Ben Simmons saga by sending him and Seth Curry to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. Should the Dubs make it to the NBA Finals, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them matched up with either team.

As for their competition in the West, the top of the conference was rather quiet, with the Phoenix Suns making a small move to acquire Torrey Craig (Phoenix sent Jalen Smith and a second-round pick to the Indiana Pacers). The other big move in the West was the Dallas Mavericks finally getting rid of Kristaps Porziņģis in a trade with the Washington Wizards, which netted them Spencer Dinwiddie and Dāvis Bertāns ... it’s hard to see that moving the needle too much though.

After Wednesday’s lackluster loss to the Utah Jazz, we’ll see if the Warriors — now knowing what their team will look like going forward — can bounce back tonight against the New York Knicks.