When do the Warriors face the revamped teams?
A look at when Golden State faces the new-look Western Conference.
The weekend was an absolutely wild one in the NBA. Late Saturday night, perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history appeared out of thin air, sending 25-year old superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers and two-way star Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. Not much time passed before All-NBA point guard De’Aaron Fox successfully maneuvered out of the dysfunctional Sacramento Kings organization and made his way to the San Antonio Spurs, with Chicago Bulls wing — and Golden State Warriors trade target — Zach LaVine replacing Fox in Sacramento.
Four All-Stars on the move, and four Western Conference teams that now look dramatically different than the last time the Warriors faced them.
So when do the Dubs get to face this new version of each team? We’re still waiting to see if there will be a new version of the Warriors themselves, as the team is hell bent on adding a star, having had discussions about LaVine and Jimmy Butler, and even plotting to try and add LeBron James or Kevin Durant ... or both. Things could change in a hurry, but for now let’s focus on the trades that actually have happened. Here’s when the Warriors will next see these new-look foes that they’re battling in the standings.
Lakers — Thursday, but really April 3
The Warriors and Lakers will celebrate the end of the hectic NBA trade deadline by playing against each other just a few hours later. But in all likelihood, the Warriors won’t get to see the robbery that the Lakers pulled off.
While Dončić has officially been updated to day-to-day, the superstar — who has been sidelined since Christmas with a calf injury — isn’t expected to make his Lakers debut until next week. So Golden State will likely have to wait until April 3, with the end of the season nearing, to play Luka in the purple and gold.
Mavericks — February 12
The Dubs will get to check in on Dallas very soon. Golden State begins a six-game road trip tomorrow (seven games if you count what happens after the All-Star Game), and the fifth game on the trip takes them to Texas. They’ll get to say hello to Klay Thompson, and get a first-hand look at the trio of Klay, Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Davis, where we’ll all get to evaluate whether a team fresh off an NBA Finals appearance messed up by trading their historically-great 25-year old player for a much worse, often-injured, 31-year old.
Spurs — March 30
While the Warriors are headed to Texas next week, they’re only playing two of the three teams that reside there. They have to wait until the end of March — when they’ll be in the middle of another six-game road trip — to see the highlight-reel pairing of Fox and Victor Wembanyama, as well as old teammates Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes.
Kings — February 21
Golden State kicks off the second half of the season by paying a visit to the Kings. It kind of feels like the budding rivalry between the NorCal teams has died. Fox was a huge part of it, and between his trade and the firing of Mike Brown, it feels like Sacramento is sliding back into disarray, even though they still have tons of talent and very well may be a better team than the Warriors.
Mark your calendars, Dub Nation. Some intriguing games ahead!