Ranking the 3 best in-season trades in Warriors history

In-season trades in the NBA are made for several different reasons.

One of the primary motivations for teams to make deals ahead of the deadline, of course, is to acquire players who can make an immediate impact and help them make a run at a championship.

Another reason is to clear salary, as teams often trade players with large or expiring contracts to free up cap space, thus allowing them to pursue other valuable assets. Deals like this are also often made to simply reduce payroll.

Additionally, teams in rebuilding mode may trade veterans for draft picks and younger prospects. Or maybe a franchise is looking to unload a disgruntled player. The list goes on and on.

Over the years, the Golden State Warriors have essentially made every type of in-season trade imaginable, resulting in varying levels of success.

But we'll stay away from the ones that didn't work out so well here and instead just focus on the top three in-season trades in Warriors history.

1. The Warriors gave Steph Curry and Klay Thompson the keys to the castle by trading away Monta Ellis

While most swaps are judged by what a team receives in the deal, the best in-season trade in Warriors history is more about what Golden State gave up.

In the late 2000s and into the 2010s, the focal point of the Warriors' offense was Monta Ellis, who consistently led the team in points and was even among the league leaders in scoring for a couple of seasons, topping out at 25.5 points per game during the 2009-10 campaign.

Ahead of that same season, of course, the Dubs had drafted Steph Curry with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. And two years later, they took Klay Thompson at No. 11 overall.

Despite the Dubs loading up on guards, Ellis continued to play solid basketball and was averaging a team-high 21.9 points per game over the first few months of the strike-shortened 2011-12 season.

And that's why it was a bit shocking when it was announced on March 13, 2012, that Ellis, along with Kwame Brown and Ekpe Udoh, had been traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson.

Trading Ellis was a risky move, but it was obviously the right one. This deal was basically the beginning of the Warriors' dynasty, as Curry and Thompson ultimately became one of the top backcourt duos in league history and led Golden State to four NBA titles over the next decade.

But there was a third franchise cornerstone during this dynastic run, which takes us right into the next entry.

2. Golden State got a second-round pick in a 2012 trade that was used to draft Draymond Green

Taken by Golden State with the 14th overall pick in 2001, Troy Murphy was included in a pair of in-season trades made by the franchise.

In January 2007, he was part of an eight-player deal that sent him to the Indiana Pacers, with whom he spent parts of four seasons before being shipped to the then-New Jersey Nets.

On February 23, 2011, Murphy was reacquired by the Warriors, who sent forward Brandan Wright and center Dan Gadzuric (don't worry if you don't know who they are) to the Nets. Golden State also received a second-round selection in the 2012 draft.

Reacquiring Murphy meant nothing, as he was released four days later. That second-round pick, on the other hand, became one of the most important picks in franchise history, as the Warriors used it to draft Draymond Green at No. 35 overall.

And the rest, as they say, is history, as Green completed the trio of future Hall of Famers that ultimately helped the Warriors become one of the most successful (and profitable) NBA franchises of all time.

3. The Warriors received Andrew Wiggins and the pick they used on Jonathan Kuminga from the Timberwolves in 2021

With Klay Thompson set to miss the entire 2019-20 season after tearing an ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals and Kevin Durant, who was also injured, wanting to leave town, the Warriors acquired D'Angelo Russell from the Nets in the deal that sent KD to Brooklyn, with the hope that he'd be a decent second scoring option alongside Steph Curry.

Golden State, of course, only got a small sample of what that would look like, as Curry broke his hand in the fourth game of the year and appeared in just one more game the rest of the season.

By the time Curry returned for that one game in March, Russell was no longer with the team, as he, Jacob Evans III, and Omari Spellman were traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the Warriors receiving Andrew Wiggins, a 2021 first-round draft pick (top-3 protected), and a 2021 second-round draft pick in return.

With Curry and Thompson both out, the season was always going to be a disaster, but Wiggins played well upon his arrival, averaging 19.4 points in the dozen games in which he appeared. That was the COVID-shortened season, and as the Warriors had an abysmal 15-50 record, they were not among the 22 teams to make the trip to the Orlando bubble.

Wiggins earned his first-ever trip to the NBA All-Star Game during the 2020-21 season, and people often forget just how vital his role was in helping the Warriors win the 2022 NBA Finals.

In addition, the first-round pick Golden State received from Minnesota was used on Jonathan Kuminga, who also played well for the Dubs in their title run and is easily one of the most talented players on their roster today. So, while this trade took some time to judge, it's easy to call it a win for the Warriors.