INDIANAPOLIS — The Golden State Warriors made an at-the-buzzer deal to trade backup point guard Cory Joseph and cash to the Indiana Pacers for a 2024 second-round pick, per reports.
Joseph was signed to a one-year, $3.196 million contract in the offseason as a third-string point guard behind future Hall of Famers Steph Curry and Chris Paul. Joseph was lauded for his low assist-to-turnover ratio and good-teammate reputation.
But Joseph is averaging 11.4 minutes per game in 26 games and two-way player Lester Quinones has usurped most of Joseph’s minutes of late. Quinones is on a two-way contract and could be converted to fill the 14th roster spot. Swapping Joseph for Quinones could save the luxury tax-burdened Warriors upwards of $10 million in salary and tax payments.
The 2024 second-round pick gets the Warriors back in the draft game this offseason; they’d given up their 2024 protected first round pick in 2019 to the Memphis Grizzlies in order to hand off Andre Iguodala’s contract and make cap room for D’Angelo Russell in the wake of Kevin Durant’s free agency departure. That pick has since been traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. They don’t own their second-round picks, either.
The Warriors didn’t make any other moves at the deadline despite some of their core players — Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney — coming up in trade rumors. The Joseph move gave the front office an opportunity to shed some financial obligations as they are deep into the luxury tax.
Related Articles
With trade rumors swirling, Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson deliver in Philadelphia
Wiggins, Thompson bounce back as Warriors drub Philadelphia 76ers
Warriors injury updates: The latest on Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Chris Paul
Curry-Ionescu duel will be on glass court unveiled for All-Star events
How Klay Thompson is handling being benched late in games
A recent turnaround may have inspired the front office to keep the major shakeups pocketed. The team defense has sharpened since Draymond Green’s return on Jan. 15, flipping a 117.7 defensive rating ranked as one of the league’s worst to a 112.6 defensive rating ranked in the league’s top five over that span.
Green’s return put into place a solid lineup of Steph Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga that boasts a 16.5 net rating, notably a 94.4 defensive rating. While the Warriors may have had some more seismic trades on the table, the organization is comfortable leaning into this momentum for the postseason. They’ve won four of their last five games and are 3-1 on this road trip, now at 23-25 and 11th in the Western Conference.
“Defense has been better over the last couple weeks,” coach Steve Kerr said after a blowout win against Philadelphia. “I like the starting lineup, I like JK and Wiggs together. Everybody on this team has just overcome whatever individual obstacles have come their way and you can always tell as a coach if your team is connected and care about each other.”
+ There are no comments
Add yours