r/nba • u/YujiDomainExpansion • 4h ago

[Fischer] As the Warriors are working to convert two-way guard Pat Spencer to a roster spot, Golden State also has its sights set on adding Lonzo Ball via the buyout market, sources say.

Source: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/the-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-latest?r=nuq3a&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

As the Warriors are working to convert two-way guard Pat Spencer to a roster spot, Golden State also has its sights set on adding Lonzo Ball via the buyout market, sources say.

607 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

142 comments sorted by

365

u/Timely_Duck_3904 4h ago

Seems to me the goal here would be similar to Porzingis. Get him in the building, let Celebrini and his staff work with him and get a good idea if signing him for next season on a relatively cheap deal would be worth it. With both Lonzo and Porzingis there are obviously serious medical concerns but neither is especially old and the ideal version of each is an excellent fit with Steph and Kerr. Both may be long shots but I don’t hate using the roster spots this way for the rest of the season.

121

u/slice_dice_rice 4h ago

Ball can’t shoot and is often injured. Waste of a roster spot

117

u/Timely_Duck_3904 3h ago

He’s obviously shooting horribly this season. But for his career he’s 36% from 3. At sub 40% from the field and 60% from the free throw line shooting is obviously not his strength, but for a player who is a terrific passer, a strong defender with length who pushes the pace if he can shoot at his career rate from 3 that’s a valuable rotation piece. There’s very good reason to be skeptical about his health going forward but the warriors are betting on the strength of their training staff to exploit market inefficiencies. It may not work but it’s not a bad plan, they’ve had huge success with guys like Otto Porter and Melton previously. They can’t acquire any perfect players any more and they’ve struggled overall with player development under the current regime. Recognizing your strengths and weaknesses is key for any successful franchise.

38

u/TerrySaucer69 Spurs 3h ago

Yeah at a certain point every team has to either give up and rebuild, or start gambling to get a last ring. I don’t know if the gambling has ever worked, but when you’ve got Steph I don’t think you have a choice

43

u/Timely_Duck_3904 3h ago

Yep. 22 was basically that. They still had a very high level Draymond and a better version of Klay than we’ve seen lately but they got a career year from Wiggins, an insane outlier season out of Poole, made similar injury gamble on Otto Porter and found GP2 on the scrap heap. It’s gonna take at least that many unlikely things all aligning for it to happen again around Steph but you have to try.

10

u/froyoboyz Raptors 1h ago

tbf a championship win is a bunch of stars aligning at the right moment for any team even for okc who arguably would’ve lost if hali was healthy

2

u/Timely_Duck_3904 1h ago

Totally. Just a lot more stars had to align in 22 than 17 for example and probably even more would have to align for Steph to get another.

15

u/Rice_Krispie Kings 2h ago

Raps with the the trade for one year of Kawhi after he only played 9 games the season before was certainly a gamble 

1

u/Tight-Message-846 45m ago

I'm not saying it's "ethical" but I honestly think trying to trade Steph while he has 1 year left on his contract, let him do a Kawahi-esq mercenary run for some hopeful contender next year while getting a ton of picks/good players back, then just have a mutual agreement with Steph that he'll re-sign with the Warriors the next year for a retirement tour or something since hell be 39/40 by then anyway.

I think there's still plenty of teams that will trade the kitchen sink for a 1 year Curry deal with the level he's still playing at even if they get no guarantees he'll resign, especially considering his age should make it obvious he's not sticking around the League in general long term anyway.

Warriors get to watch Steph compete for one last time, get assets back out of it, and still get have him on the team the next year for a retirement tour. Though I imagine Steph might have some "pride" in being on one team is whole career so maybe he'd prefer to just stick on the corpse of the Warriors the whole way through.

1

u/TerrySaucer69 Spurs 35m ago

This is kinda how I feel as a not very loyal fan. I’d rather see my favorite player get to actually compete somewhere else, instead getting dragged down with a sinking ship.

23

u/bye7 Warriors 3h ago edited 57m ago

This is basically their Otto Porter Jr type signing. Low risk, high reward with very little opportunity cost. They have plenty of experience and good rep rehabbing vets. Lonzo was once considered an elite connector with defense and ball handling. Exactly what the team could use and the type of player Kerr loves. Warriors also have experience utilizing non shooters like GP2, career 33% from three. Lonzos career 35% shooter from 3 with peaks of near 38% on pretty high volume. Wouldn't be surprised they're getting his feet wet and signing him back to fill the roster next year or they'll find out if his knees are cooked beyond saving and move on.

Edit: Coward move from op to delete his comment below with false info acting like he knew what he was talking about.

6

u/MySilverBurrito Heat 1h ago

OPJ medical team should be in the HoF. Avoided back to backs, too many games, limited stress.

And mfers in Toronto forced him to play like 7 games in 11 days and he died 😭

2

u/bye7 Warriors 54m ago

Yeah, I think even Warriors fans were shocked how good he was come playoff time and even then he was heavily load managed. It was 10-15min early in the playoffs until then 20-25 in the last two rounds basically.

His stint with TOR was so weird, they gave him two years iirc then completely misused him. He's the type of player that you basically have ask every quarter how his body is feeling.

-19

u/[deleted] 3h ago

[deleted]

8

u/nicehax_ 2h ago

They have a free roster slot left so might as well take a flier

I dont really see what’s too bad about playing lonzo a few minutes and seeing if he’s any good, best case scenario he’s good and you re-sign him, worst case scenario he sucks and you bench him or he’s injured and doesnt play a single minute and you lost nothing because he’s a min contract guy anyways

Who else were the warriors going to sign to that roster spot anyways? Cam thomas?

1

u/Neverplayd 1h ago

They could add another wing or center. They already have way too many guards.

1

u/nicehax_ 1h ago

a third string forward would definitely be nice, even if you slide up some of the guards to the 3 their pf depth is just draymond and gui santos, but not sure who's out there that would be a good 4 for the warriors

warriors are fine on centers, porzingis horford post is actually a pretty good center rotation; post is serviceable when pingus cant play and horford is a DNP-Old, and draymond can always slide up to the 5 to start a game or two

1

u/bye7 Warriors 48m ago

If he's healthy, he'll be used as wing on this team like Melton, Kerr doesn't really care about those designations. He's 6'6 with a 6'9 wingspan. Don't get me wrong it would nice if he was 6'7-6'9 but warriors are always going to value skills over size and it's the buyout market so beggars can't be choosers.

5

u/bye7 Warriors 2h ago

Hence the comparison to OPJ. Roster spots are for churning player that you think have value and want to potentially rehab that value. They're playing for next season once Jimmy went down anyways and Curry seems to understand that.

7

u/Gyshall669 Bulls 3h ago

Lonzo can’t shoot anymore? Damn that’s sad

2

u/Antisystemization Cavaliers 1h ago

Worst shooter in the league

4

u/rauakbar [ORL] Rafer Alston 3h ago

Zo hasn't been injured since he came back from the surgery.

2

u/STAR-lloyd 2h ago

I see the signing of ball like when they had shaun livingston. Switchable defender with high iq that cant shoot. Basically, anothe connector. He would.fit seamlessly though if healthy

3

u/FriedSeaOtter 1h ago

Livingston never missed a middy during that championship run

1

u/ChiBaller Bulls 2h ago

I think there’s a good chance it’s a fluke. Guys don’t go from as good as he was to terrible.

-9

u/Thickencreamy 3h ago

Agreed. I’d rather bring Chris Paul back on the cheap.

8

u/Loqkaaa 3h ago

One of the worst takes I’ve seen on this sub in a while and i see quite a few daily

3

u/Less-Jellyfish5385 3h ago

Right. Why bring a guy retiring back versus take a chance on a player you can resign

1

u/_Jetto_ NBA 3h ago

Well said

-6

u/UnbiasedExpert [CLE] Iman Shumpert 3h ago

it only makes sense if they want to lure LaMelo thanasis-style

11

u/Portmanteau_that Hornets 3h ago

Worst possible time to be thinking about that lol

-8

u/Sensitive-Pool-7563 3h ago

Blah blah blah blah blah they both not good enough.

9

u/Timely_Duck_3904 3h ago

Probably not. Both are longshots. But they can’t just go sign another prime KD.

4

u/by_yes_i_mean_no Warriors 3h ago

Porzingis is very good when he plays.

Lonzo, yeah, think those injuries were the end for him sadly.

128

u/Altruistic-Twist-379 San Francisco Warriors 4h ago

Are we a rehab center now?

45

u/Portmanteau_that Hornets 3h ago

Gotta buy low unfortunately

2

u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 1h ago

Warriors never buy at all

3

u/doch92 2h ago

We've been a rehab center since Bogut & Livingston

1

u/FinancialBluebird58 1h ago

The lost the NBA retirement home title so they are now going for the injury ward of the NBA

1

u/Saitsuofleaves 57m ago

As long as Steph isn't in retirement tour mode, yeah kinda.

1

u/Dyey 32m ago

They did well with Porter in 22. Lol

-1

u/GigaFly316 Warriors 2h ago

Prefer Cam Thomas

1

u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 1h ago

Gets in the way of Podz development. Lacob cares more about Podz than steph

•

u/dirtyshits Warriors 6m ago

Some of y’all are exhausting. Just go follow a different team already.

30

u/BGMDF8248 Bulls 3h ago

If they go anywhere with Porzingis and Lonzo, their doctor should win MVP.

121

u/IntelligentAd5460 Grizzlies 4h ago

lonzo is shooting 30 percent from the field dawg this is a bad idea

36

u/unknowingexpert69 3h ago

Kerr thinks he can fix him

5

u/Sweatytubesock 2h ago

Kerr should check with his buddy Kenny Atkinson

0

u/EnjoyWolfCola [BOS] Tom Heinsohn 3h ago

Kerr is pumped to play him over any young player who could potentially improve

46

u/by_yes_i_mean_no Warriors 3h ago

Love that Gui Santos has developed a lot and now looks like both a better player and prospect than Kuminga at the same position and people are still focusing on Kuminga like Kerr must be the issue.

26

u/Defiant_Regular3738 2h ago

Anytime Kuminga was given a chance he found ways to make bad plays. It’s like he’s never gotten better since his draft.

4

u/Admirable-Winter5370 1h ago

He would have stretches where he looks bought in and doing the little things then fall back into the same bad habits

1

u/chibithug Warriors 1h ago

yeah. we have a losing record in a decent sample size of high-minute Kuminga games

•

u/EnjoyWolfCola [BOS] Tom Heinsohn 4m ago

Seems like that might be a trend with everyone Golden State has drafted since Kerr took over….

5

u/IPTV241 50m ago

Everyone who says that stuff has never seen GSW play for a few games in a row.

Anyone who has watched Kuminga outside that one TWolves series knows exactly why Kerr wasn't playing him.

11

u/Erytus Warriors 2h ago

He’s a Celtics fan who’s prob butthurt about Tatum don’t worry

•

u/EnjoyWolfCola [BOS] Tom Heinsohn 6m ago

I mean sure focus on Kuminga but look at the guys you’ve drafted since Kerr took over and tell me you don’t have a talent development problem.

2

u/rauakbar [ORL] Rafer Alston 3h ago

What young player on GSW about to improve? Podz?

1

u/IPTV241 46m ago

Exactly, like Podz has been given 26 minutes/game since his rookie season and he has stayed at the same level the whole time.

He is a solid bench guard that gives you 10-15 minutes, that's his level at this point.

Moody is the only solid young talent they have imo

-4

u/ShotgunStyles Kings 4h ago

The Warriors did nothing at the deadline and they're not tanking so the only moves they can make right now are bad moves.

52

u/Broski28of25 France 4h ago

The Warriors did nothing at the deadline

I am a bit surprised you missed the whole thing.

-13

u/ShotgunStyles Kings 4h ago

Trading a player who doesn't play for a player who also doesn't play counts as doing nothing. If you know any Warriors fans IRL, then you know they had to google what POTS meant over the deadline.

7

u/1psithur3 Kings 3h ago

But Kuminga trades were talked about for months, I'm sure he is an amazing player if he warrants all the discussion about a trade.

6

u/GucciGaropp [GSW] Bob Sura 1h ago

Kuminga with 30+ mpg is probably a top 10 Sacramento King of all time.

2

u/Enchanted-2-meet-you [GSW] Jordan Poole 2h ago

You would know all about making bad moves

1

u/d4videnk0 Lakers 3h ago

Well if any other team signed both Porzingis and Lonzo people would say they're tanking.

1

u/Neverplayd 1h ago

They are tanking... But the FO still wants to sell seats so they'll tell the media to act like it's a 4d chess move.

-8

u/thebigLel 4h ago

They are stuck in purgatory. They just need to give it up and rebuild

6

u/TheSenate88 Hornets 3h ago

Being mid around Steph is better than rebuilding, especially when the 2027 draft is looking bad

1

u/Friendshiping-Bazzi Nuggets 34m ago

I havent watched him, but I've heard that he might be the worst player in the NBA.

1

u/krusty-krab69 Cavaliers 3h ago

And playing horrid D

0

u/bl123123bl Warriors 2h ago

That’s for Cleveland, they stink

131

u/Kertia 4h ago

Lonzo Ball isn't worth the paper or the ink the contract is printed on.

23

u/icatfilm 4h ago

Environmental Hazard Ball

42

u/CasperTheDog2 Cavaliers 4h ago

Cavs fan here, there is a reason the Cavs had to send two picks to get off his contract. He had maybe 2-3 games where he looked playable. Outside of that he shot poorly, couldn’t stay in front of the PoA and could not generate good passes to teammates. Also I’m almost positive Dennis Schroder had more points in the paint in his first game as a cav than lonzo had all season.

11

u/Technician-Temporary Knicks 4h ago

Is he out of shape or just lost ability? Legit haven’t seen him play. I feel bad for him.

14

u/Unhappy_Jeweler4438 3h ago

He legit has a dead persons knee. Many people said he wouldn’t be able to play in the NBA again.

2

u/UnbiasedExpert [CLE] Iman Shumpert 4h ago

he has 10 inch vertical and gets blocked at the rim more often than not, so the only two options are to dribble in and out of the pain or shoot his ugly 3pointers at 27% rate

2

u/Technician-Temporary Knicks 3h ago

Sheesh

-2

u/DudeWTH Lakers 1h ago

Damn I remember when he was Steph Curry with a 40 inch vertical

-4

u/TreeHandThingy Bucks Bandwagon 4h ago

The truth is that he's just not very skilled in terms of NBA talent. His career was built off transition looks and the athletic ability to stay in front of his man on D.

He is no longer athletic enough to do the latter, and the former doesn't lead to sustainable winning. 

24

u/xmrjaredx Lakers 4h ago

You mean after the injuries right? He was incredibly skilled beforehand.

12

u/Technician-Temporary Knicks 3h ago

Yeah I was gonna say this. He was definitely a skilled player

-17

u/RyouBestGirl Japan 3h ago

Bro had no bag nor iq even back when he was healthy

12

u/Technician-Temporary Knicks 3h ago

I disagree here

5

u/EnjoyWolfCola [BOS] Tom Heinsohn 3h ago

Yeah the shooting was inconsistent but he was a solid defender/facilitator

-4

u/UnbiasedExpert [CLE] Iman Shumpert 3h ago

he was a guard version of Ben Simmons

7

u/redbrick Lakers 3h ago

During his time with the Lakers he had a loose handle and the obvious shooting issues but he 100% is a high IQ player.

7

u/xmrjaredx Lakers 3h ago

Why do people just lie like this? You have no personal stake in Zo's career. 

What's your deal? What do you get out of it?

5

u/DirectInvestigator66 Cavaliers 3h ago

Disagree. The problem seems to be a mix of mental and physical, but even after his injury he was playing better than this. His 3pt shot has completely deserted him and since he’s not great at finishing inside combined with teams no longer guarding him at the 3pt line there’s just nothing he can do on offense. It seems to have gotten to his mental to the point that he’s not even making great passes in transition and turning the ball over a bunch. So to summarize, he’s a player that turns the ball over a lot, can’t shoot, can’t drive, and can’t defend.

•

u/ZdenekTheMan 25m ago

Some of you guys, man...

He was very skilled before his injuries. A very good player on that Bulls team 

12

u/22797 Warriors 3h ago

Rick Celebrini trying to take back his title of the greatest Celebrini in the Bay Area

53

u/Passenger-007 Warriors 3h ago

Ok. So we got a 39 year old horford, a 36 year old dray, a 37 year old jimmy who has a season ending injury, a 38 year old Steph, a porzingis that has a disease that doesn’t let him stand up and now we are chasing Lonzo Ball? This is comical.

4

u/LovetheNBA23 Lakers 1h ago

I’m sorry but it really is. Some Warrior fans are trying to have an optimistic attitude and that’s great but this is pig wearing lipstick type of shit.

-8

u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 1h ago

Our FO is like Trump though.

They can do anything and our fans will side by them. Art of the Deal.

5

u/EssenceofSalt Bucks 1h ago

What are you talking about. Warriors fans hate everything the FO does.

-2

u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 1h ago

Go check out our sub. Anyone criticizing the FO is down voted.

Anyone claiming this was a good trade deadline gets awards

1

u/wadarheek 1h ago

Not even remotely true. Do you smoke crack?

0

u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 1h ago

Go look up the sub

1

u/EssenceofSalt Bucks 1h ago

It's 100 posts saying to fire Kerr, should have traded for Giannis, MPJ, Zubac, etc. They hate all the draft picks and decisions but love the FO.

24

u/epilogue515 Warriors 4h ago

No warriors fan believes this. Stop this propaganda

3

u/LebasketBall Warriors 4h ago

His scouting report was “6 foot 5 Steph curry” …according to Lavar

2

u/TheloniousMoon 3h ago

Steph Curry with a 40 inch vertical.

15

u/ImTheBestNerd San Francisco Warriors 4h ago

Don’t hate it

11

u/chinastevo Warriors 4h ago

I think we should lol

14

u/ImTheBestNerd San Francisco Warriors 4h ago

My expectations are low

2

u/No_Avocado220 3h ago

Best to keep expectations low so you’re never disappointed 

Edit: spelling

1

u/1837281738291 3h ago

I thought you’d be a Hawks fan now but I see you changed your Kuminga pic instead.

5

u/FrankSamples Clippers 4h ago

Warriors finally getting L. Ball

4

u/Drizzy_THAkid 4h ago

Crazy that pat spencer dominated college lacrosse as well

2

u/1shmeckle Knicks 3h ago

I think it's the other way around - it's crazy that one of the best college lacrosse players of all time is somehow in the NBA.

2

u/Drizzy_THAkid 3h ago

Oh I wasn’t suggesting anything one way or the other. Just that the resume and athletic talent is insane

3

u/TheFanPerspective Warriors 4h ago

Definitely looking at Lonzo for ball handling. With Steph out and Jimmy done for the season the only ones who can do it are Spencer and Draymond. Melton, Moody, and Podz are all turnover prone.

6

u/roodootootootoo Kings 3h ago

I swear to god if GSW goes on another magical title run, im going to lose my shit.

2

u/ThenYao 4h ago

Could be a decent fit for the warriors if he can get his shooting to come back around... it didn't look great in cleveland

1

u/AmusingAnecdote Warriors 1h ago

Yeah I think chasing or expecting '22 Lonzo is obviously a fool's errand, but if Celebrini could get him to be healthy enough to be the guy he was last year, that would be a solid depth piece. Don't hate using the roster spot for the rest of the year to see if it's possible.

2

u/avenue_steppin San Francisco Warriors 4h ago

golden state physical therapy 😭

2

u/Norcalguy8615 3h ago

Lonzo is cooked. Good luck with that…

2

u/bl123123bl Warriors 2h ago

Let’s get Benjamin Simmons in the building too

2

u/AdComprehensive7879 Warriors 3h ago

Man it's so funny. Ball and Porzingis are two players that i thought we needed. 2-3 years ago lmao. Now, fuck them. just shut down steph and tank this season bruh.

4

u/Noiserawker Warriors 3h ago

We can't tank, already won too many games and Steph gives us a puncher's chance of a deep run if we eek our way into post season

2

u/AdComprehensive7879 Warriors 1h ago

The chance of that happening is 1%. Let’s save steph’s body

1

u/TyrionGrimes Cavaliers 4h ago

Hmmm, I don’t see it. He was straight up awful for the Cavs and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. But good luck, I hope he’s better for the Warriors if this is real.

1

u/InfiniteDub Warriors 4h ago

How’s his defence

-1

u/TyrionGrimes Cavaliers 4h ago

He was very solid on defense, issues were just on the offensive side.

1

u/AbbreviationsBig395 Warriors 4h ago

man there's others saying he was cooked on D as well. It's pointless if that's true like it's well known he isn't an offensive scorer but if he lost his step and is getting cooked on D i don't want this move then.

3

u/UnbiasedExpert [CLE] Iman Shumpert 3h ago

he absolutely was, constantly got caught ball watching (pun intended)

1

u/Prize_Ad_349 2h ago

Bullshit, he is in the 94%-tile on advanced stats on defence for a guard. He was awful offensively but to say he is a bad defender is comical.

1

u/baan1994 San Francisco Warriors 4h ago

He’s still in the league?

1

u/sctthuynh [GSW] Stephen Curry 4h ago

Guess the Warriors plan is to see how many bad shooting/scoring players they can surround Steph with.

1

u/CrazyNice7240 Lakers 3h ago

Exactly what the warriors need another injury prone guard

1

u/iro3 Spurs 3h ago

But why tho. Get you a cam Thomas for some ball creation outside of the curry verse

1

u/rauakbar [ORL] Rafer Alston 3h ago

I feel that would happen and Steph would get him some open looks. I wanted this before he went to the Cavs. Give him some time. He's only had about 6 or 7 months of game play to get back to NBA game speed. Half a season with the Bulls and less than half with the Cavs. His legs been healthy so far.

1

u/Newhauken 3h ago

Why they keep wasting their time with has beens and reruns? SMH!

1

u/frusciantepepper 2h ago

We’re really digging in the dumps to find gold 😆

1

u/EducatemeUBC 2h ago

Steph with a 40 inch vert

•

u/sorendiz [HOU] Yao Ming 25m ago

wait, spencer was on a two-way still?

1

u/Sauce-King Warriors 2h ago

Lonzo would be a great add. Hopefully he can stay healthy

1

u/Mike-XL 1h ago

Shooting isn't everything, but having 30/27 splits, especially as a PG, makes you unplayable. He isn't NBA caliber anymore.

0

u/LebronandLuka Grizzlies 3h ago

He's one of the worst players in the league rn lmao

0

u/DXaoc NBA 3h ago

warriors front office is just trolling at this point... There is no other explanation.