The Golden State Warriors may stand pat before the February trade deadline and instead search the buyout market for a defensive big man.
Acquiring a center who can protect the rim could still be on the table for the Warriors, despite promising displays from Javale McGee and Zaza Pachulia. The departure of Andrew Bogut has been eased by the team's collective effort on both ends of the floor, but Golden State may need to consider fill that void, especially if the team aims for a third-straight Finals appearance.
The trade market could offer plenty of defensive big men for the Warriors, but the team has very limited assets to move. Trading the likes of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and even Klay Thompson have all been explored in past trade rumors, but realistically, it is unlikely Golden State would consider such move this season.
According to Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated, the Warriors may use the buyout market to search for another big man who could shore up the team's defense.
"Golden State doesn't really need anything, but one more big man could come in handy by the postseason just in case they need some steady minutes at center. I'd expect Golden State to be actively poking around the buyout market later this season," Nadkarni wrote.
Several key players have reached buyouts with their clubs in the past, giving the Warriors a slight hint of what to expect after the trade deadline. At this point, teams have yet to announce their respective potential buyout candidates, but the Philadelphia 76ers could be among the teams looking to waive one of their key players.
Sixers coach Brett Brown has conceded that Nerlens Noel will not be part of Philadelphia's rotation moving forward, which yet again sparked speculations about the 22-year-old center getting dealt before the deadline. But the 76ers may still keep hold of Noel, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
"While there is some urgency to getting the public dispute resolved, there is not a sense that a trade is close," Kyler wrote.
"Noel is a pending free agent, so that complicates a deal value; then, factor in that opposing teams know that the 76ers need to make a deal and it's easy to see why the team may be having a hard time extracting real value when one team is a motivated seller."
Noel would give the Warriors a two-way threat inside the paint. Noel's ability to finish at the rim and crash the boards would boost Golden State offensively, while his shot-blocking skills would very much come in handy for Steve Kerr.
There are no indications that the 76ers are planning a buyout with Noel, but there is a strong possibility it could happen if Philly could not get any trade partners for the shot-blocking big man. This could be an opening for the Warriors to finally land a young defensive big man who could help fill the void left by Bogut.
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