The Golden State Warriors have a difficult path to navigate with Thursday’s NBA trading deadline fast approaching. They want to maximize the talent around Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and hopefully a healthy Klay Thompson next season, but they also don’t want to compromise the future by selling their best young and active players.
Enter Victor Oladipo, who reportedly turned down a recent Houston Rockets extension offer and is scheduled to become a free agent this off-season. Oladipo can be a good intermediate option for the Warriors, as our Brad Botkin wrote – someone who can help in the short term alongside his stars, but he also doesn’t need a lot of resources to bring on board.
Well, apparently the last part was the delay in negotiations between the Rockets and the Warriors. According to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston is asking for rookie center James Wiseman or the first three 2021 Minnesota Timberwolves protégés (who become unprotected in 2022) in exchange for Oladipo. The high price paralyzed any possible discussion between the two teams. From Letourneau:
According to a league source, Golden State’s negotiations with Houston have not passed the investigation stage. The Rockets would want one of the Warriors’ main assets, the choice of the three main protégés in 2021 from Minnesota or Wiseman, both of whom are a talking point for the Golden State.
With Wiseman and the choice of Minnesota, the Warriors have one of the best exchange packages in the league should a superstar become available, so it makes sense that they don’t want to use either to purchase Oladipo, a former All-Star who has been inconsistent at best, since the return of a severe injury to the quadrangular tendon in January 2020.
Since the rebuilding rockets presumably have no interest in taking on Andrew Wiggins ‘high salary, a package most likely would be centered around Warriors’ Kelly Oubre Jr., who is also expected to become a free agent in this off-season. If that were the case, the Rockets would probably want an attached first-round choice (not Minnesota’s), which the Golden State may not be willing to part with.
A lot can change between now and Thursday’s deadline, but it seems that for now the Rockets and Warriors are not on the same page when it comes to a potential deal with Oladipo.