The Golden State Warriors have taken a Klay Thompson trade off the table in the Kevin Love trade talks and ESPN reports the team has instead offered a combination of David Lee, Harrison Barnes and draft picks over Andrew Bogut in a potential deal, but the Wolves are not biting, as they want Thompson from the Warriors or Andrew Wiggins from the Cavaliers for a trade to go down.
The Warriors and Timberwolves have been engaged in trade talks since before the NBA draft and after things quieted down for a while, Golden State has jumped back in. Marc Stein from ESPN writes that the Warriors may have jumped back in after late summer interest from the Cavaliers, who got back LeBron James and are looking to make a title run. ESPN.com reports that the Cavs offered Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett and a first round pick for Love, but the Timberwolves are looking for Andrew Wiggins in any deal. The Cavs are reluctant to give up Wiggins since he was a number one pick and they envision James, Wiggins and Kyrie Irving playing together for years to come.
The Warriors have a strong young core and they love the combination of Thompson and Steph Curry and with new coach Steve Kerr coming in, they do not want to break that up. The Warriors and Wolves looked like they were close on a deal around the draft, but then things broke down and now they are back at it again, but the same sticking point persists with Thompson. Last season the young star averaged 18.4 points per game and looked like he could be a potential superstar in the future and that is why the team is reluctant to deal him. Thompson was strong from three point range and that is another reason why he is so valued.
The Warriors have made some solid moves already, including signing away Shaun Livingston from the Brooklyn Nets. Livingston played well last season and ESPN.com writes that the deal is for three years and about $16 million. Last year he averaged 8.3 points and 3.2 assists and was a strong bench player for the team and now he will likely serve in the same role. The Warriors need some support on the bench after losing some players and they also now added Brandon Rush to the mix.
According to ESPN.com, Rush has signed with the Warriors after his stint there earlier in his career and it comes after he played 38 games for the Jazz last season. Rush had been working out for teams and now the Warriors have signed him to strengthen their bench behind Thompson and Curry. Last season the team won 51 games and had a great playoff series against the Clippers and they were ranked 10th in the league in scoring and 10th in points allowed and now Kerr comes in after Mark Jackson was fired and he will try and keep the train moving in the right direction.
The warriors are considered one of the best young teams in the league and they may try for the Kevin Love trade, but they clearly do not want to give up Thompson to get it done this season and it could play out into the deadline.