Should The Golden State Warriors Stand Pat At The Trade Deadline?

Verdict: Stand Pat

However, each one of these hypothetical trades comes with a number of caveats that cannot be ignored.

In the case of Channing Frye, his deal lasts for two extra years compared to Lee. He’d be a terrifying fit for his pick-and-pop abilities, serviceable rebounding and improved interior defense, but I’m not convinced that A) the Magic would even trade him for Lee and B) he’d provide the same kind of scoring and rebounding that Lee already brings to the table.

Frye is a nice hypothetical fit as a stretch-five, but would he mesh with this elite defense the way that David Lee already has, especially with only a few months left before the playoffs?

Garnett has something left in the tank and playing for a title contender like Golden State would harness it, but would the Dubs really be better off trading Lee for Garnett? The Big Ticket is great and all, but he’s also extremely old and is only averaging 6.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on the season.

The Brooklyn Nets might salivate at a player like Lee, but Garnett is off the books after this year. If the Nets are trying to rebuild from the ground up, taking on Lee’s $15.4 million salary next year, even if it’s only for a year, might not be the way to go. More importantly, even if the Nets wanted Lee, there’s a reason for that — most Dubs fans would rather have Lee than KG too.

West represents another tempting option, but again, is he really a better option than what the Dubs already have on hand with David Lee? West would provide toughness, physical defense and veteran leadership, but he’s nowhere near as polished offensively. His numbers may be slightly superior, but he also plays a lot more minutes as a starter than Lee does off the bench.

Lee could potentially fetch a number of helpful pieces if the Warriors were to put him on the trade block and virtually no one in the NBA is 100 percent “off limits.” But unless the perfect utopia of trade deadline deals falls into Golden State’s lap, there’s something to be said of chemistry and cohesion.

Furthermore, for any fans saying keeping Lee means the Dubs can’t hold on to Green this summer, don’t forget that owner Joe Lacob has already said he would have no problem paying the luxury tax to re-sign Draymond and keep this title contender intact.

Even with their recent “struggles,” the Warriors project to be the best team in the NBA and a true title contender by any metric you can think of. Lee hasn’t been the driving force behind that, but he’s an important part of a collective unit that just keeps winning games. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

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