Why Mullin isn’t sold on idea of Warriors trading Wiseman, Wiggins

Warriors

Why Mullin isn’t sold on idea of Warriors trading Wiseman, Wiggins

The Warriors are going to be mentioned as an option for every possible trade that could materialize this offseason as they look to build a title contender around Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Whether it is Ben Simmons, Pascal Siakam, Bradley Beal or Damian Lillard, if a big name might hit the market, the Warriors will be one of the first teams mentioned as a potential suitor.

With two lottery picks — No. 7 and No. 14 — along with James Wiseman and Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors have the assets needed to make a splash. The Athletic’s John Hollinger reported Monday that the “widespread expectation” in the NBA is that the Warriors will try to use Wiseman and the No. 7 pick to upgrade their roster.

A potential deal involving Wiggins, Wiseman and the No. 7 pick for Siakam already has the internet buzzing, but is trading Wiggins and Wiseman the best idea? Former Warrior Chris Mullin isn’t sold.

“If I’m Toronto, I’ll do that in a second,” Mullin told KNBR’s “Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks” about the hypothetical Siakam trade. “That particular deal — I still have a lot of faith and belief in James Wiseman, and Siakam, he’s a heck of a player but he’s similar to what they have. If you watched these playoffs, every team has a legitimate center that they use at some point during the game, during the series, to change the way they’re playing. So, I mean I believe in James Wiseman, that’s my personal opinion.”

Both Deandre Ayton and Clint Capella have had good playoff runs, but Wiseman, 20, still has a lot of developing to do and doesn’t appear to fit the timeline of Curry, Thompson and Green.

The Warriors also have a different view of Curry’s timeline than the rest of us.

“It’s something that is factored in,” Warriors assistant general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told 95.7 The Game about how Curry’s window factors into their NBA draft plans. “The one thing about Steph is with the way he takes care of his body, with his skill level, we think his window is going to be a lot bigger than some other people do. So, we take that into account, but as far as the draft goes, you have to be a little careful about saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to draft a guy that is going to be ready to play.’ It’s hard enough to draft a guy that is going to be a good NBA player, and now you’re going to go ahead and say, ‘We’re going to draft a guy that is going to be impactful in his rookie year.’ Really, really hard to do and there aren’t a whole lot of those guys.

“We are always taking that stuff into account, in terms of Steph and Draymond and Klay’s window. But, as you can imagine, there is a lot of moving targets here with Klay coming back. What point of the season is he going to be back? What is he going to be like? We’ve got a lot of balls in the air, but fortunately, we’ve got some talent — we’ve got a talented roster, we’ve got some draft picks, we’ve got some ways to get better. We’ll figure it out.”

As for Wiggins, who had a resurgent first season in a Warriors uniform, Mullin doesn’t think parting with the 2014 No. 1 overall pick is the best idea.

“So, these other names are they much better than Wiggins? I’m not so sure about that,” Mullin said. “And like I said, Wiseman’s young but he’s really talented, so you’re gonna go get an older guy that’s not as talented? I don’t see that as an option either.”

RELATED: Olympics give Kerr, Draymond opportunity to recruit

Wiggins, 26, showed off his two-way ability this past season and should be able to find even more offensive success when Thompson returns to the lineup. It is very possible that he factors into the Warriors’ long-term plans.

Yes, it’s true the grass isn’t always greener, but if the Warriors have the opportunity to land another All-Star-level player, they have to take it.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast