Examining Warriors' potential trade packages for Turner

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The Warriors reportedly have had trade discussions with the Indiana Pacers regarding Myles Turner in recent weeks, but what would a potential Golden State trade for the elite rim protector look like?

Both Warriors insider Monte Poole and yours truly have written about Turner's excellent fit with the Warriors in the past, and with the organization's core reportedly imploring the front office to use one of or both of the team's lottery picks in the 2021 NBA Draft to acquire a proven starter, the 25-year-old could be an excellent candidate for such a move.

The Pacers have a bit of a redundancy in the frontcourt, as Domantas Sabonis and Turner on the floor together hasn't been a consistent winning combination for Indiana. The organization clearly favors building around Sabonis, as the Pacers gave the All-Star a four-year extension worth $77 million prior to the 2019-20 season.

Turner's name has been floated in trade rumors for years now, with many teams reportedly eyeing the big man, and for good reason. Turner led the NBA in blocks per game for the second time in his career last season, and topped 33 percent shooting from 3-point range for the fifth consecutive season on a career-high 4.4 attempts per game.

So what would the pieces of a potential trade sending Turner to the Warriors be? Turner is due $18 million each of the next two years, and with the Warriors' league-leading payroll, Golden State would need to match salaries and ship out more than that in order to make the deal work.

Andrew Wiggins seems like the prime candidate for making the salaries work on a Turner trade, as he is owed $31.5 million in 2021-22. Bringing in Turner also would make James Wiseman somewhat redundant in the rotation, so he also could be included in a deal.

Of course, Wiggins and Wiseman should net the Warriors more than just Turner. A player like T.J. Warren or Jeremy Lamb would be a nice fit to make salaries roughly match up in a trade.

Basketballnews.com's Evan Sidery proposed this hypothetical trade a few days ago that would bring Turner to the Bay.

Golden State receives: Myles Turner, Jeremy Lamb, No. 13 pick

Indiana receives: Andrew Wiggins, No. 7 pick, No. 14 pick

RELATED: Oubre felt universe put him 'in a box' on Warriors last season

Retaining Wiseman while adding Turner to the starting lineup and picking up a talented scorer like Lamb would be a nice win-now move. Plus, the Warriors still would have a lottery selection in this potential deal. This hypothetical proposal seems ideal for the Warriors, but also one Indiana might not consider unless they really felt like they could get a potential superstar at No. 7.

Malcolm Brogdon is another name the Warriors could target, as the young guard's name has come up in trade rumors this offseason as well. Brogdon is an excellent ball-handler and would be about as good of a backup to Curry as the Warriors could get in a trade this summer. Bringing Brogdon into trade discussions, however, almost certainly would mean Wiseman's departure to satisfy Indiana.

Another proposal from NBA Analysis Network's Skyler Carlin would involve the Warriors giving up Wiseman and Wiggins along with the seventh overall pick, but getting Turner and certified bucket-getter T.J. Warren. Again, the Warriors almost certainly would prefer holding onto at least one of those two top assets in Wiseman and the seventh pick, unless Bradley Beal or Damian Lillard were part of the trade return. The Warriors more likely would give up the 14th pick in a Turner/Warren deal than Wiseman.

Another possibility that might allow the Warriors to keep Wiggins, who had a solid first full season in San Francisco in '20-21, would be creating a sign-and-trade around Kelly Oubre Jr. This of course would be contingent on Oubre seeing Indiana as a good landing spot in free agency, but Oubre likely will net something in the neighborhood of Turner's $18 million AAV in free agency, and could make a nice salary match.

Something like Oubre and one of the two lottery picks this year could land Turner and potentially a future asset from Indiana. Again, that would require approval from Oubre, but it is something to consider since he doesn't seem likely to re-sign with the Warriors anyway.

In summation, any Warriors trade offer for Turner likely starts with Wiggins/Oubre and one of this year's lottery draft picks. The Warriors place a lot of value in James Wiseman and for good reason, as he was the second overall pick last November. But if the Warriors included him in Turner discussions, they could almost certainly get a better return from Indiana than any trade that didn't include the young big man.

The Warriors should be seeking out any and all trade possibilities leading up to Thursday's draft, and a lot could change between now and then.

The most likely scenario for a Turner trade to the Warriors feels like packaging Wiggins and the two lottery picks in exchange for the center and Warren. That might sound like a lot to Dub Nation, but it achieves what the Warriors' stars would prefer in bringing in two talented starters while freeing the Wiggins contract from the books. Indiana might be looking to move Turner, but it doesn't make sense from their perspective to give him up for an undesirable package.

If a Turner trade to the Bay comes to fruition, it likely will resemble one of the above packages.

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