Warriors 2026 NBA as trade deadline after 2 deals

The Golden State Warriors were one of the most prominent teams leading up to the trade deadline. In the period after Jimmy Butler’s season-ending torn ACL putting his status in doubt for the 2026-27 season, the Warriors had to pull off a miracle to assemble a contending team around Stephen Curry, who is in the twilight of his career.

However, such a miracle did not come. The Warriors swung for the fence on a ball that fell to the ground and gasped horribly, leaving them in such a tough spot for the season. Curry has no knee problems at the momentand the Dubs are limping toward the All-Star break.

And what awaits them after the All-Star break is not Giannis Antetokounmpoan already pretty depleted roster that will rely on a player whose health is one of the biggest question marks in the league.

Trade deadline It didn’t go according to plan for the Warriorsthat’s for sure. They made two trades when it became clear Antetokounmpo wasn’t coming to the bay, and it’s hard to even count those as consolation deals because there’s so much uncertainty surrounding the man they brought in, Kristaps Porzingis.

Here’s the grade the Dubs front office deserves for the moves they made and the moves they failed to make before the deadline.

The Warriors are breathing on Giannis Antetokounmpo

With the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2025-26 season gone by the wayside, Antetokounmpo has become an increasingly likely trade candidate to find a new home before the deadline. Giannis is currently is recovering from a shin injurybut any team would know how impactful he is, especially for the Warriors.

Antetokounmpo might be the toughest player for opponents to defend near the basket, and it would be a dream for the Warriors to pair him with the league’s best scorer in Curry. That tandem would certainly be good enough to compete for a title, especially if the Dubs were able to retain several of their roles in the process of acquiring the Bucks star.

Any trade for Antetokounmpo would require The warriors disperse with one of Butler and Green to go along Jonathan CummingaBrandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and whatever draft assets Golden State can part with. Given how Butler is dealing with a torn ACL, the Bucks weren’t interested in him — which meant the Dubs had to let Green go, which they were reportedly prepared to do anyway.

Unfortunately, the Bucks felt like the Warriors’ offer wasn’t enough, and they felt the same about all the other offers they received, hence their decision to keep Antetokounmpo instead. This swing and miss on Antetokounmpo effectively kills the Dubs’ title hopes this season, and possibly for the next few years.

Would trading all assets for Antetokounmpo be worth it for the Warriors? Or are they just content to let Curry ride off into the sunset as a four-time NBA champion dealing with a mediocre team to end his career?

With Curry set to be 38 before the playoffs begin, avoiding the all-in trap may have been best for the Warriors’ long-term prospects. Giving up their choices 2026, 2028, and 2032 to go along with 2027, 2029, and 2031 trades for someone like Antetokounmpo, who hasn’t exactly been the healthiest, might not have been the best idea anyway.

But the loss of Antetokounmpo may have forced the Warriors to make one of the trickiest moves of the deadline.

The Dubs are looking for a miracle in the form of Kristaps Porzingis

Warriors acquire: Kristaps Porzingis

Hawks take over: Jonathan Cumminga, Buddy Hield

Porzingis has played in exactly 17 games this season for the Atlanta Hawks, and somehow, the Warriors expect him to make a huge impact for them this season. The Hawks made him available for a trade for a reason, and that’s because Porzingis’ Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) has made him very incapable of being ready for more than a game at a time.

In fact, he missed the last 15 games, and The Warriors now expect him to play enough to the point that bringing him in was the best they could have done in the Jonathan Cummings trade.

Kuminga was long rumored to be a trade, but the Warriors held onto him for so long, perhaps out of a belief that he would one day figure it out under coach Steve Kerr. Or maybe the Dubs thought he would become this brilliant young player who could be the centerpiece of a deal that would bring them a true star next to Curry.

Whatever the case may be, trading Kuminga for Porzingis appears to be a no-win move for the Warriors. It’s not entirely clear if Porzingis could even play more than 10 games for the Dubs.

And his contract expires; instead of having Cummings’ contract on the books for next season to try to trade another contributor, they would instead have to re-sign Porzingis so they don’t lose assets for nothing — and that, again, comes with so much risk because KP is never healthy again.

Porzingis is like that fits the Dubs well on paper as one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. However, the Hawks lost faith in his ability to stay healthy moving forward, and that should have been telling since they were the team that worked most closely with the Latvian star.

This is a classic case of holding an asset for too long and then seeing its value depreciate so much that it would be best for them to cut their losses.

Grade: C+

Golden State forward Traice Jackson-Davis

Warriors get: 2026 second-round pick (from Los Angeles Lakers)

Raptors acquire: Traice Jackson-Davis

Jackson-Davis was barely played a minute for the Warriors, finding himself stuck behind Draymond Green, Al Horford and Quinten Post in their big man rotation. And with Porzingis coming in, Jackson-Davis simply didn’t have a place in the Dubs rotation anymore.

Trading him for a second-round pick gives the Warriors another shot in the second round, much like Jackson-Davis was meant to start.

Grade: B-

Overall grade for the Warriors’ trade deadline: C+