2) Warriors trades with the Chicago Bulls for OPJ
This trade deal has less moving parts than the one previous on the list. And for Karnisovas and the Bulls, they could get more reliable depth on the wing if they were to land the 2014-15 Rookie of the Year and former Kansas Jayhawks small forward Andrew Wiggins. It wouldn’t surprise many if the Warriors have Wiggins on the move by the time the trade deadline arrives.
Two of the most expensive contracts on the current cap sheet for the Warriors at the moment are Wiggins and Draymond. The former of those two Warriors players is worth just shy of $30 million per year for the current season. And Wiggins will have two years left on his current contract once this season is up.
While that is a long time for the Bulls to take on a contract the level of Wiggins’, it’s similar to the one that John Paxson and Gar Forman did when they landed OPJ from the Washington Wizards two years ago. It might be a risk that Karnisovas and Eversley are willing to take. But this should be a calculated move that includes other valuable pieces that the Bulls would get in return.
That is why the Bulls should go after getting some level of future draft capital from the Warriors, along with a piece that could add long-term value such as Poole. It also wouldn’t surprise many if the Warriors wanted to move Poole ahead of the trade deadline later this month. He’s not doing great with the Warriors backcourt rotation thus far, but he’s showing a lot of progress in his game in his sophomore campaign in the NBA.