The Art of the Deal: Warriors Edition - Are fan GMs the best GMs?

DNHQ After Dark: Musing on Luka/Unibrow trade, Monta Ellis, and the nature of being a fan with a rooting interest and fever for roster makeovers.

I was turning off basketball for the evening, ready to enjoy a quiet Saturday at home. I had turned on the mood lighting in my crib and was settling onto the balcony for an evening of pipe puffing and listening to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia on audiobook in the quiet night air.

And then my phone exploded with a bombshell trade: The Dallas Mavericks sent Luka Freakin’ Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for ANTHONY DAVIS?!

I hurled the smoking pipe off of the balcony into the black night sky, emphatically paused “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, and dialed in a special code into my minifridge to activate my personal supply of ice cold Hennessy. Let’s get active.

Welcome to Dub Nation After Dark, where the trade machines hum like white noise and the possibilities are as endless as my Hennessy supply. It's 10 PM, and like those episodes of "Up All Night with Gilbert Gottfried" that somehow made perfect sense when you were way too young to be awake—you know, the ones where he'd break down B-movies with the intensity of a film scholar having an existential crisis—we're about to dive into some deeply questionable territory.

LET’S TALK ABOUT TRADES!

There's nothing quite like watching Warriors fans (and basketball enthusiasts) transform into amateur GMs every time the team drops three games in a row. The trade machine gets more clicks than Stephen Curry highlight reels, and suddenly everyone becomes a salary cap expert with a PhD in "Trust Me, This Trade Works."

But before we dive into the current "trade everyone not named Curry" fever sweeping through Dub Nation, let's examine the Warriors' complex history with trades... because boy, do we have some stories to tell. And like all good stories told after midnight, this one's going to challenge everything you think you know about reality. Or maybe that's just the cognac talking.

The Ghosts of Trades Past

Remember Chris Webber? Of course you do. The Magic technically drafted him first overall in 1993, then traded him to the Dubs for Penny Hardaway and three future first-round picks. C-Webb averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds as a rookie and even dunked all over the immortal Charles Barkley!

Despite the Warriors' successful 50-32 record in Webber's rookie year, the tension between coach and player became untenable1. Webber exercised an opt-out clause in his contract after his first season, essentially forcing the Warriors to trade him. The team chose to keep Nelson initially, trading Webber to the Washington Bullets. Ironically, Nelson was fired just 45 games into the following season, with the Warriors posting a dismal 14-31 record. This decision by team owner Chris Cohan was criticized, as it seemed pointless to have traded Webber if Nelson wasn't going to be retained anyway.

For me? That's like getting a PlayStation 5 for Christmas and trading it for a box of Monopoly money because you didn't like the controller settings.

The truly painful part? Webber went on to become a five-time All-Star and one of the most versatile big men of his era. Meanwhile, the Warriors spent the next decade trying to convince themselves that guys like Todd Fuller was the answer. (Narrator: He wasn't.)

When Trades Actually Worked

But it hasn't all been pain and regret in Warriors trade history. Let's talk about Baron Davis, acquired from the New Orleans Hornets in 2005. And Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington coming over in 2007. Those trades didn't just work; they created the "We Believe" Warriors, the greatest eighth seed in NBA history to absolutely destroy a one seed's soul. (Sorry not sorry, Dallas.)

And then there's the Andre Iguodala sign-and-trade in 2013, which required the Warriors to ship out multiple players and picks. All Iggy did was become the 2015 Finals MVP and a cornerstone of a dynasty. Some trades are REALLY make your flip the franchise for the better.

The Current Conundrum

Now we're sitting here in 2025, watching fans fire up the trade machine. The targets? Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Brandin Podziemski have all heard their names floated in theoretical trades more times than Draymond Green has gotten technical fouls (okay, maybe not that many times).

The statistical reality is sobering: the Warriors' defensive rating has plummeted from their championship standards, their turnover percentage would make Don Nelson's run-and-gun teams blush, and their young players are showing flashes of brilliance mixed with rookie mistakes that make Steve Kerr's hair get a little grayer each game.

But here's the thing about trading young talent: for every Gilbert Arenas who left and became Agent Zero elsewhere, there's a Klay Thompson who the Warriors refused to trade for Kevin Love (and thank the basketball gods for that). Development isn't linear, and patience isn't just a virtue—it's often the difference between building a sustainable contender and becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder of the 2010s.

A Personal Confession: The Monta Ellis Trade

So, perhaps as a long time Dub Nation HQ member you’re about to remind me of something: I was dead wrong about the Monta Ellis trade.

When the Warriors shipped Monta to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut in 2012, I was ready to lead the torches-and-pitchforks march to Oracle Arena. The wounds from the Jason Richardson trade were still fresh—watching J-Rich get traded to Charlotte for Branden Wright felt like seeing your seeing your mom grab the house phone while watching an infomercial to squander your college fund on ordering a can’t-miss collection of Beanie Babies.

So to me the Ellis trade and the J-Rich trade had haunting parallels: another beloved scoring guard who embodied Warriors basketball being shipped away in the name of “getting a big”. Monta had given us 48-point explosions, moped-gate, "Monta have it all," and those incredible layup packages that made physics professors question their life's work. And we were trading him for... a center with injury issues?

The ghost of J-Rich's departure had me convinced we were repeating history's mistakes. Both trades felt like the Warriors were saying goodbye to their identity, choosing conventional wisdom over the electric, sometimes-chaotic style that made Golden State basketball special.

But here's the thing about being wrong: sometimes it leads to dynasty-building excellence.

Bogut became the defensive anchor we desperately needed, the screen-setting savant who made our offense hum, and the Australian attitude adjuster who gave our team some much-needed edge. Meanwhile, Monta's departure cleared the runway for the greatest backcourt in NBA history to take flight. The Splash Brothers needed that space to become who they are, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon (if butterflies could shoot from 35 feet with a hand in their face).

Looking back, it's a humbling reminder that sometimes the hardest trades to stomach become the ones that define a franchise's ascension. The J-Rich trade hurt because it didn't lead anywhere. The Ellis trade hurt because it led everywhere…we just couldn't see the destination through our tears.

Also, when we at DNHQ originally posted this Monta-inspired edition of My Worst Take, it felt like everybody and their mama was telling me, “Wow! It was CLEARLY OBVIOUS Monta had to go!” and I just wanna say…sure. Sure! Maybe it was super obvious to you internet geniuses, but let me tell you that back in 2012 nobody in the streets was advocating for trading Monta #streetcred.

The Bottom Line

So here we are, Dub Nation. The Warriors' front office has shown they can both nail trades (Iguodala) and whiff spectacularly (Webber). But in today's NBA, with the play-in tournament keeping more teams in contention and fewer sellers at the deadline, making a franchise-altering trade is harder than getting Draymond to go a week without a technical.

The question isn't just whether to make a trade—it's whether we've given these ingredients enough time to simmer. Are we making soup, or are we just boiling water and hoping it turns into something tasty? Even Stephen Curry wasn't STEPHEN CURRY until his third season, but at least we saw the flavors developing. Right now, we're watching possessions that look like a cooking show blooper reel.

So I'm putting it to you, Warriors fans: Who needs to go? Which young player are you ready to bet your franchise's future against? Because that's what it is—a bet. When we shipped out Monta, we bet on Steph. When we kept Klay instead of trading for Kevin Love, we bet on development over immediate gratification. Sometimes you bust, like with the Jacob Evans experiment (remember him?). But sometimes you hit the jackpot.

Time is both the greatest truth-teller and the cruelest critic in the NBA. While we're sitting here debating trade machine scenarios, Kuminga might be one Draymond Green pep talk away from figuring it out. Moses Moody could be one summer workout from becoming the 3-and-D savior we've been craving. Or maybe... this really ain't it.

Here's what I know: If you're reaching for the trade machine every time Kuminga misses a rotation or Podziemski turns the ball over, you might want to check your browser history from 2012. You probably had some strong opinions about trading Monta Ellis too. Sometimes the best move is to step away from the trade machine, take a deep breath, and trust the process... even if that process currently involves watching our young guys run offensive sets like they're using Apple Maps in airplane mode.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this pot has been simmering long enough, and it's time to change the recipe entirely. But remember: before you call for someone's head, make sure you've got the right replacement ingredients in mind.

Because if there's one thing Warriors history has taught us, it's that sometimes the trades that hurt the most in the moment age like fine wine... and sometimes they age like a bacon wrapped hotdog that fell out of the bun and laid on the concrete bridge separating Oracle from Coliseum Bart.

Anyways, WTF THEY REALLY TRADED LUKA?!