There were issues aplenty for the Golden State Warriors on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, having struggled on both sides of the ball in a blowout 129-99 loss to their pacific rival.
It's the offensive end that's a far more pressing concern right now though, with the Warriors set to spend at least the next three weeks without their second leading scorer in Jonathan Kuminga.
Warriors desperation could force them into paying overs in a trade
Even despite Kuminga bursting out into a near 25-point scorer in the six games prior to his injury, Golden State have held one of the worst offenses in the league for a significant period since the start of December.
There are now even greater concerns on how the Warriors will cope offensively over the next month, with the potential of those concerns growing into an urgency level that could only be addressed by an imminent trade.
Currently viewed as unlikely to take a risk on 6x All-Star Jimmy Butler, Golden State's best option right now might be Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic. The Athletic's Anthony Slater, Marcus Thompson II and Sam Amick reported the Warriors interest in the 2x All-Star on Saturday, with Vucevic currently averaging 20.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 42.4% 3-point shooting so far this season.
Furthering on from their report, Slater and Thompson discussed Vucevic on the latest episode of the Warriors Plus-Minus podcast, and specifically whether the front office should pay up more now as opposed to waiting till the final hours before the deadline.
"Do you think the urgency of this moment, this three week period, this time means that you should, you should fast forward it enough to where you're going to give up a first instead of waiting and giving up a second," Slater questioned.
There's a very strong argument for both sides. Golden State could give up a first-round pick now, acquire Vucevic who fits a clear need, and perhaps keep their head above water before Kuminga's return, then see what kind of run they could go on over the remainder of the season.
The other side is that you could wait until February 5 or 6 where you may only have to give up a couple of second-round picks, or alternatively in the meantime a star or more desirable trade target becomes available in the next month.
There's no guarantee in either scenario -- Trading for Vucevic in the next week should make the Warriors instantly better, but we also thought that about Dennis Schroder when he was acquired three weeks ago. There's no guarantee that Chicago would accept just second-round draft capital at the deadline either, or that a more attractive trade target becomes available.
These are the questions the Golden State front office are currently facing, but one thing is for sure -- the longer the team remains in a state of mediocrity, the quicker Warrior fans will lose patience with this current direction.
