The craft beer of trade deadline day is in the air, and the intoxicating sound of moving vans and smell of seared hundreds drive the day.
Except, one suspects, the Golden State Warriors, who find themselves a bit light on movable assets and uninspired by the items on the shelves.
Oh sure, there’s Avery Bradley, the freshly minted Clipper who is also rumored to go to Oklahoma City to help haunt the Warriors, and Warrior fans who are feigning disappointment keep tossing out names like JaVale McGee and Nick Young as though they could attract Giannis Antetokounmpo all by themselves, but the sense remains that the Warriors will go through a fourth consecutive trade deadline watching other people lift the pianos while they keep the ear buds safely wedged inside their heads.
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It is the curse of having the best record in the NBA, made worse by having lost three of their last four games in embarrassing (for them) fashion. In other words, it looks like the Warriors have needs that might actually be met by doing nothing, thereby leaving them open to questioning from the underwashed among us for not doing enough to press their advantages.
But in the end one suspects the Warriors will either do nothing or nothing of interest, thereby robbing their fans of the momentary high while reminding them that they’re still the Warriors.
And yes, that’s just as confusing as it sounds.
Standing pat on deadline day is always considered a bit lame, a demonstration of lack of initiative. But the whole idea of roster construction is designed so that a general manager can have deadline day off for golf if he so chooses (and can misdirect the owner into thinking he’s just working the phone), and the Warriors are plainly far closer to the latter than the former.
Golden State Warriors
So let’s assume the least while hoping to overinflate the most. Bob Myers and Steve Kerr are primed to disappoint yet again, ultimately to the great relief of all.