Golden State Warriors Trade Rumors: Potential Options Other Than Kevin Love

Golden State Warriors Trade Rumors: Potential Options Other Than Kevin Love (Photo: Ryan Brown / LetsGoWarriors.com)

With the news breaking that Kevin Love wants out of Minneapolis, several teams, including the Golden State Warriors, seem to be gearing up to make a run at the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ superstar.

Prospective trade partners include the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, all of whom own draft picks in the current draft.

With Minnesota likely entering rebuilding mode should they decide to deal Love, draft picks and young players will prove key in whatever deal they make.

Already, fans of the respective teams have created a bidding war, trying to prove their team has the best package of assets the perennial All-Star power forward.

Before Warriors fans sell themselves too hard on Stephen Curry and Love pick-and-rolls, perhaps it’s a good time to take a look at the teams’ other options, should the auction get a bit too expensive.

Without a draft pick in the current draft and just one available to trade through 2019, the Warriors don’t have a lot of non-player assets.

It’s foreseeable they’ll be above the salary cap for the next few seasons no matter what they do, so signing free agents outright doesn’t seem like a very likely option.

There’s the oft-mentioned great fit in Chris Bosh, who could become a free agent this summer, but the challenges of getting him to Oakland would prove nearly as difficult, even it came without a bidding war.

So what options do the Warriors have that don’t include sacrificing their few remaining trade pieces?

A traded player exception (TPE) gained in the trade with the Utah Jazz last summer would seem to be the Warriors’ best bet at adding additional talent to a team through trade.

The TPE gives the Warriors the ability to add a player from a team looking to dump salary, and with more than $9 million to work with there could be many such players available to the Warriors.

The obvious drawbacks to adding salary outright, rather than trading for Love, include entering the luxury tax for the first time, likely at a significantly punitive level.

Here’s a starter list of potential trade targets. Some might only require the ability to receive unwanted salary, while others might require a player or asset in return.

Steve Nash – 1 year, $9.7M

Jeff Green – 2 years, $18.9M

Ryan Anderson – 2 years, $17M

Jeremy Lin – 1 year, $8.4M

Omer Asik – 1 year, $8.4M

Jameer Nelson – 1 year, $8M

Taj Gibson – 3 years, $25.5M

Ersan Ilysova – 3 years, $24.2M

Aaron Afflalo – 2 years, $15.7M

Kevin Martin – 3 years, $21.3M

You could even include both Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack on this list, though it seems far less likely than new blood, especially after the swap from Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr.

It’s an interesting list, especially considering that just about any of them, if acquired, would come off the bench.

Admittedly, none of these players would be as flashy as making a bigger move, as the Warriors have seemingly attempted to do every summer since Joe Lacob took over.

But given how good the Warriors starting unit was last season, whether or not they need a big shake up is a good question.

Much of their issues on the court came from a lack-luster bench that was relied on far too strongly when starters struggled with injuries.

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