3 Andrew Wiggins trades to resurrect Warriors season
1. Warriors can trade Andrew Wiggins to Pistons
The Detroit Pistons might be crazy enough to do it. Detroit has been historically bad out of the gates, but the Pistons front office refuses to get real about the situation. Monty Williams is still head coach. Detroit isn't going to sell high on Bojan Bogdanovic. Instead, the Pistons are connected to names like Pascal Siakam. It would appear the goal is to get less bad, rather than bottom out even more.
And sure, the Pistons need to start building good, winning habits. That is essential to any rebuild. Endless losing is a bad recipe for long-term success. The Pistons have their franchise cornerstone in Cade Cunningham, who has performed commendably under poor circumstances. The Pistons' problems are rooted less in talent (though it's a problem) and more in roster balance. There's not enough shooting and far too many one-way bigs.
The Pistons can avoid a complete meltdown from Pistons Twitter by not trading valuable young assets for Pascal Siakam and instead swapping a few expiring vets for Andrew Wiggins. The 28-year-old isn't ancient and he's a great fit on paper, supplying Detroit with 3-point shooting and perimeter defense that is currently in short supply. The 3s haven't fallen for Wiggins in 2023-24, but he shot over 38.0 percent from deep in each of the last three seasons with Golden State. When he's healthy and spry, Wiggins still carries the upside to perform at borderline All-Star level.
The Warriors get a useful secondary creator and 3-point specialist in Alec Burks, whose production in Detroit has flown under the radar because, well, they're Detroit. Monte Morris hasn't played yet this season, but he's due back from a right quad strain in the next month or two. He plays mistake-free minutes at point guard and is a career 39.2 percent long-range shooter.
Odds are the Warriors won't get the most inspiring return for Wiggins, but this gets long-term money off Golden State's books — there is a lot of money on those books right now — and supplies Golden State with two rotation pieces while elevating Kuminga's stature, as intended.