Golden State Warriors almost traded Harrison Barnes for Arron Afflalo

The NBA Draft is over and done with but we nearly had a blockbuster trade that was nixed by the tam who probably could have benefited from it the most. Prior to the NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic dealt guard Arron Afflalo up north to the Denver Nuggets but they nearly sent him out west in a stellar trade that would have been amazing to see unfold.

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According to NBA scribe Ric Bucher, the Golden State Warriors had the chance to deal Harrison Barnes and a first round pick in exchange for Arron Afflalo. What this would have done is given the Dubs a replacement for Klay Thompson who they then could have flipped along with assets to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a Kevin Love trade.

The deal never happened and it’s unclear how deep the conversations got but they apparently got deep enough that the Dubs were the ones that walked away from the deal.

Had they made the trade it would have shifted this offseason dramatically as Kevin Love being in Oakland might have sparked Western Conference teams to make quicker pitches to free agents rather than wait for Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James to make decisions.

Either way, the trade never happened and it’s yet to be seen if the Dubs can still pull off a trade that lands them Kevin Love or not.