Golden State Warriors' Key Trade Assets for the Season
The rest of the league already has its shopping list for the Golden State Warriors. It’s not long, and it doesn’t include the name that has defined the franchise for a decade.
Stephen Curry is off the board before talks even start. As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported this week, there’s no real “negotiation” on his next deal, just an organization prepared to let a 38-year-old Curry write his own number. That’s not a trade chip. That’s the foundation.
Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody aren’t on the list either. Mike Dunleavy made that clear back in August when he said neither will be ready for the Oct. 21 opener and that there’s no timetable for either rehab. Injured players don’t headline serious trade talks.
Strip all that away and Golden State is left with three real pieces of business. Three assets that actually move the needle.
No. 3: Kristaps Porzingis and His Contract
Kristaps Porzingis arrived in February from Atlanta in the Jonathan Kuminga deal, a midseason swing that felt like a reset of sorts. In June, the Warriors doubled down, handing him a two-year, $40 million extension with a player option on the second year.
John Hollinger of The Athletic noted that the deal was structured as an extension, not a brand-new contract, which keeps Porzingis eligible to be traded immediately. That detail matters. It turns him from a sunk cost into a live option.
On the floor, the numbers were solid, if not spectacular: 16.7 points and 5.2 rebounds across 32 games, only 15 of those in a Warriors uniform. The sample is small. The intrigue is not.
The real value sits in the $19.5 million salary slot. It’s big enough to bring back a legitimate player, clean enough to slide into most cap sheets, and essential for any team that might pivot from “continuity” to “we need help now” if a star unexpectedly hits the market.
He’s only third on this list for one reason: a 31-year-old who has played just 15 games for his new team can’t be the lone headliner in a blockbuster. He’s ballast and upside, not the centerpiece.
No. 2: The Warriors’ Own First-Round Picks
If the league needed a reminder of how valuable draft capital has become, it got one when the NBA stripped the Clippers of five future first-rounders in the Kawhi Leonard punishment. Picks aren’t just assets now; they’re lifelines and leverage.
A May breakdown showed Golden State still holding its own first-rounders in 2027, 2028, 2029, 2031 and 2032. The 2030 pick is committed to Dallas, but only if it lands outside the top 20. For a franchise built around Curry and a 36-year-old Draymond Green, that level of future control is unusual.
And that’s exactly why rivals would pay. Nobody can say what the Warriors will look like in 2029. Will they still be clinging to the last strands of the Curry era, or deep into a rebuild? That uncertainty is gold to other front offices.
Golden State already signaled its willingness to keep investing in the future by holding onto the No. 11 pick in June and drafting Yaxel Lendeborg. But the calculus changes the moment this roster proves it needs a serious upgrade. When that day comes, those picks won’t just sit in a drawer. They’ll light up phones.
No. 1: Brandin Podziemski
Brandin Podziemski is the name that keeps coming up. He’s the first player other teams ask about, and the one the Warriors are most reluctant to touch.
The reasons are straightforward. He’s 23. He played all 82 games last season. He averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists, and he did it on a $5.7 million salary in the final year of his rookie deal. Production, durability, and value in one package.
Dunleavy has already gone on record: he’d rather get an extension done than let Podziemski drift into restricted free agency next summer. “When he’s on the court, we’re a better team,” Dunleavy said. The clock, though, is ticking. Nothing is signed, and the extension window closes on Oct. 19.
For another team, trading for him would mean landing a cheap young guard with real rotation impact plus his restricted free agent rights. If he takes another step this season, that price only climbs.
This is the tension point. This is why he’s No. 1.
Golden State is coming off a 37-45 season and a 10th-place finish in the West. With Butler and Moody set to miss the start of the year, Dunleavy has until February to decide what these assets really are: the foundation of the next Warriors team, or the ammunition for one last serious run around Curry.
The logic is clear for now. Keep Podziemski. Guard those future firsts unless a star with years left on his deal comes loose. And if the right offer lands on the table, let Porzingis be the piece that moves.
The franchise has already chosen patience once. The next choice will say whether this is still Curry’s chase for one more banner, or the first hard turn toward whatever comes after him.
