3 moves the Golden State Warriors can make to turn their season around

2. Bet on Jonathan Kuminga, trade all other prospects for veteran help

The Warriors decided to attempt something unheard of this season: a two-timeline approach focused both on the present and the future of the franchise.

As expected, that has gone more wrong than not. From now on, the Dubs must favor Curry’s timeline of present-day contention by fading the youth movement and selling all of their prospects in exchange for impactful, tangible, productive veterans that can help Golden State keep their dynasty alive.

All prospects, except one.

Gone were the days of enjoying Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II. It was time for the likes of Moses Moody, James Wiseman, and Jonathan Kuminga to level up their game to help the Warriors contending efforts. Only, that never truly kicked into high gear for the first month of the season.

Moody is virtually out of the rotation. Wiseman is not even on the Dubs’ NBA roster, plying his craft in the G League. No need to mention how green the likes of Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins have looked in their early pro days.

Other than already-established, microwave-scorer Jordan Poole, only Kuminga has stayed afloat and kept his head above water when it comes to the Warriors’ youngins. He has adapted smoothly to the system built around Steph: get the ball, pass the ball, always move, never hesitate, act quickly, play defense, and don’t overthink things.

With a squad that is expected to heavily feature all of Curry, Klay, Dray, Wiggins, Looney, Poole, DiVincenzo, JaMychal Green, Anthony Lamb, and Kuminga for the remainder of the season, just two more spots are open for two other players to enjoy rotational minutes. And it is clear no youngster, not even Wiseman nor Moody will adapt to the Dubs system in time for the Warriors’ postseason run.

As much as it’d suck to accept the mistake that was drafting James Wiseman, or at least the fact that the coaches in the organization couldn’t make it work for him in their years-long established ecosystem, this is the second move to make by Golden State and one that would help strengthen the first one.

Trading Wiseman, Moody, and any/every other young player that can fetch present-day assets will help Coach Kerr make it all work and put a team with contending chops on the basketball court.