The Golden State Warriors most recent 114-106 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night improved the team’s record to 14-9 and gave the group momentum heading into their NBA Cup Quarter-Final matchup against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
The current No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, Golden State had to rely heavily on their starters to collect a hard-fought win against Minnesota.
After beginning the season on a tear, the Warriors’ bench production has fallen off a cliff.
This is due in large part to their recent free agency acquisition De’Anthony Melton being sidelined for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, but the rest of the reserves have not stepped up in his absence.
Their All-Rookie First Team point guard from a season ago Brandin Podziemski has connected on just 23.8% of his three-point attempts this season and other notable role players like Kyle Anderson have only contributed 5.0 points in 14.7 minutes.
With Melton out and the team lacking in sufficient guard depth, Golden State’s general manager Mike Dunleavy is rumored to be interested in acquiring a veteran point guard from the Brooklyn Nets to remedy the issue.
The Nets have been looking to move three of their most valuable assets to initiate a full-on rebuild, with two being forwards Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith.
Though their forward pair is intriguing, Golden State has reportedly kept tabs on Brooklyn’s 31-year-old scoring and facilitating guard, Dennis Schröder.
“The Warriors are among the teams that have expressed interest in those three players, sources said,” wrote ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania Tuesday morning.
“Schroder, 31, is having a standout season on a $13 million salary, averaging 18.6 points and 6.5 assists.”
“Rival teams believe the Warriors are open to using injured guard De’Anthony Melton’s $12.8 million expiring salary along with draft incentives to make a potential deal for that salary range.”
In season No. 12, the 6-foot-1 Schröder is putting together one of his best individual seasons yet, posting averages of 18.6 points and 6.5 assists on a 58.3% true shooting percentage.
In a potential deal for Schröder, Golden State would likely ship out Melton’s salary with hopes that he’ll resign next offseason. Brooklyn would also likely seek draft compensation to accelerate their rebuilding process.
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