Team #3: Golden State Warriors

Losing Klay Thompson hurts the Warriors big time this year and could ultimately prove costly to them in their efforts to not only contend for a title, but make the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference. This year’s Golden State team will look a lot different than past years and while Steph Curry will still be the leader of this team, they will need to make adjustments to their game plan moving forward and become a better defensive team. 

Kelly Oubre Jr, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green are all high-level defenders and with the addition of James Wiseman, a potential great shot-blocker in the paint, the Warriors could actually flip the script from offense to defense this season. That is why they should go after PJ Tucker in a potential trade.

Tucker is the epitome of a “3-and-D” player in today’s NBA and given that Warriors ownership has made it clear they are willing to pay the taxes to keep this dynasty alive, it would make sense for them to go after the 35-year-old veteran. The Warriors enter the year about $65 million over the salary cap, but could package some smaller contracts together to bring in Tucker.

Behind Green, the Warriors do not have many options and while they could play Eric Paschal or Kevon Looney at the power forward position, they would be exposed at this position on the court. Having Tucker as basically a duplicate to Green in the front-court would be extremely beneficial to the Warriors and help establish them as one of the better defensive teams in the league. 

Getting back to the playoffs will be tough for the Warriors, but going out and trading for Tucker could give them enough three-point shooting offensively and enough defensive firepower to be a legit playoff team in the Western Conference.