Dub Hub: Steph Curry advises against a ‘desperate’ trade despite the Warriors’ struggles

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Tuesday, January 14th.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• Steph Curry says the Warriors shouldn’t make a “desperate” trade following the team’s 104-101 loss vs. Raptors.
• Draymond Green disagrees with the Warriors “mortgaging off the future,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill.
• Lakers, Clippers resume games on Monday after Los Angeles wildfires delay schedule.

The Golden State Warriors suffered their 20th loss of the season on Monday night, falling to the Toronto Raptors 104-101. The defeat dropped their record to 19-20, pushing the team below .500 for the first time this season.

As the NBA season nears its halfway point, the Warriors find themselves at a pivotal crossroads. The team doesn’t want to waste another year of Steph Curry’s career by tanking, but they also lack the talent to legitimately compete for a championship. With their struggles and the NBA Trade Deadline looming on February 6th, Golden State needs to make a decision on the direction of their season.

However, Curry and other key figures within the organization have recently advised against making a “desperate” move that could jeopardize the franchise’s long-term future. Following Monday’s loss to the Raptors, Curry emphasized patience and balancing immediate improvement with long-term success, leaving the Warriors to navigate a delicate situation as they attempt to turn their season around.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Tuesday, January 14th:

Warriors News:

Draymond Green on whether Warriors would mortgage future to win now: ‘Bad teams do that’ | Yahoo Sports

Somewhat surprisingly, Green is in lockstep with the way the Warriors have handled things. Despite overtures to the likes of Paul George over the summer, they’ve stayed the course as opposed to going all-in on any strategy.

“The beautiful part about being in the space that we’re in is, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and myself all disagree with mortgaging off the future of this organization, saying that we’re going for it right now,” Green told Yahoo Sports on Thursday night following the Warriors’ 107-104 win over Detroit.

“Bad teams do that. Bad organizations do that. We’re not neither one.”

Steph Curry, Steve Kerr and Warriors are grappling with an existential crossroads | The Athletic

“I think it’s really important these last couple of years that we handle ourselves with dignity and competitiveness and fight for everything,” Kerr said. “We want to maintain what has made us the Warriors, what’s made us into this organization. That means we have to keep fighting. But it means handling the pain and the indignity of losing with a dignified response. I think that manifests itself in a lot of different ways. And one of those ways is don’t do anything crazy. Let’s maintain the integrity of the operation. I think everybody is on board with that and aligned with that. We all want the organization to do as well as possible going forward. And we all agree it would be really irresponsible to jeopardize the future to take a wild stab at something.”

What we learned as Warriors’ offense sputters in crunch-time loss | NBC Sports Bay Area

Hield played 33 minutes and finished with eight points, tying him with Lindy Waters III as Golden State’s sixth-leading scorer. He shot 3 of 13 from the field, including 2 of 10 from distance. His best work was recording four steals.

Hield has made at least 50 percent of his shots only twice in the last 16 games. He’s averaging 9.0 points during that span.

Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic on coaching against Steph Curry: “I can’t wait for him to retire”

Warriors’ second rounder Quinten Post records 30 point, 11 rebound double-double in G-League win vs. Suns

NBA News:

Redick hopes return of Lakers brings ‘some joy’ amid L.A.’s fire crisis | ESPN

With the Lakers about to play their first game after a six-day layoff due to the Southern California wildfires, their coach, JJ Redick, took a moment to focus on something he hoped could be gained after so much has been lost.

“I think a group functions best when you draw strength from each other,” said Redick, whose home was one of the thousands lost to the fires in the past week. “Then it’s our job to go give strength and give hope and give joy. Sports are a lot of things, and sports can certainly provide an escape and a distraction; and hopefully, sports — and tonight — can provide some joy, as well.”

Pistons’ trust in each other building after another win over Knicks in New York | The Athletic

In Cunningham’s final visit to MSG this regular season, he dropped a second-half, season-high 29 points en route to 36 total. He had it rolling all evening, and when the Knicks showed a hard double-team, he trusted his teammates.

The more Cunningham shows trust in his teammates, the more it bolsters the team’s rising confidence.

“It feels good to have that type of respect from a team like that,” Cunningham said postgame in the locker room. “More than anything, it feels great to be able to draw two (defenders) to allow a wide-open shot on the backside. So I thought those last two plays were beautiful.

Kings’ Domantas Sabonis and Cavaliers’ Darius Garland named Conference Players of the Week

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

Player grades: Warriors vs. Raptors

Kevon Looney

18 minutes, 10 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 fouls, 5-for-9 shooting, 55.6% TS, -8

An absolute beast on the glass. Looney’s now up to 225 rebounds in just 517 minutes. Absurd! He comfortably leads the NBA in rebounds per 36 minutes and per 100 possessions, and is third (behind just Andre Drummond and Karl-Anthony Towns) in total rebounding percentage.

Grade: A-

Post-game bonus: Tied for the team lead in rebounds.

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