The Golden State Warriors already have a play called in the huddle as they pursue Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr.
Golden State is eyeing Porter ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Monday. Siegel indicates that the Warriors would like to land Porter from the Nets in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield, and one first-round pick.
However, Golden State reportedly does not want to surrender more than one first-round pick for Porter, even if the 27-year-old is their top trade target this season. You can read Siegel’s full report on the situation here.
At 21-19 on the year, the Warriors are desperate for another consistent scorer next to Steph Curry, especially given Jimmy Butler’s unpredictability on offense. Porter, the former Denver Nuggets champion, fits that billing with his scoring average of 25.9 points per game this season on 49/40/83 shooting splits.
Set to make $38.3 million this year and $40.8 million next year, Porter would indeed require the Warriors to trade multiple valuable assets for him, both to be able to match contracts and to convince the Nets to part ways with him in the first place. But Golden State has already been linked to Porter for the last couple of weeks, and now it appears that their trade pursuit of him is intensifying.
The ex-lottery pick Porter was traded last offseason from the Nuggets to the Nets for a decently strong return. Now in the middle of a career year, Porter has sent his trade value soaring even higher, so it remains to be seen if Golden State has enough here to be able to land him.
