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USATSI

This is the least fun time to be a member of the Golden State Warriors in the last decade or so, with the exception of the 2019-20 season in which Stephen Curry missed all but five games. After the New Orleans Pelicans pummelled them on Wednesday, coach Steve Kerr said they'd lost their belief in themselves. Curry added that, when the home crowd booed them, he was "booing myself, booing our team in my head."

The Warriors entered the season with championship expectations, and they won five of their first six games, including a 28-point blowout against the same Pelicans team that just beat them by 36. Now, after two separate Draymond Green suspensions, two separate young-player-chafes-at-his-role news cycles, two separate Gary Payton II injuries, a Chris Paul surgery, a zillion different lineups and two-plus profoundly disappointing months of basketball from 2022 All-Star Andrew Wiggins, they're 17-20, with the No. 14 offense in the NBA, the No. 23 defense and an uphill battle just to make the play-in. Green has returned to podcasting and is on the verge of returning to the court, but it would be unfair to expect him -- or any one player -- to fix all that ails Golden State. 

Naturally, then, with exactly four weeks until the trade deadline, the front office is expected to be open for business. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, no one is untouchable except Curry.

"The mindset in Golden State right now is everyone but Steph Curry is on the table," Charania said on "Run It Back" on FanDuel TV, adding that the Warriors are "going to be looking to make moves."

This does not necessarily mean that the Warriors are about to blow up the core that delivered them four championships in eight seasons. Green signed a four-year, $100 million contract last summer, and this would be a weird time for anybody to acquire him. Klay Thompson hasn't been able to come to terms on an extension with Golden State, but he's making $43.2 million this season and, even if the organization were willing to eschew sentimentality, that number makes it tricky to trade him.

It is notable, though, that this rumor explicitly suggests that there are scenarios in which the front office, now led by Mike Dunleavy Jr., would move Green and/or Thompson, both of whom have spent their entire careers with the franchise and will be in the Hall of Fame one day. Is that because of the antics that Green has pledged to avoid going forward and the way that Thompson's contract negotiations have played out? Is it simply because the Warriors are in such a dark place that they have no choice but to consider (virtually) everything? I'm not sure, but, unless they turn this season around quickly, expect more trade speculation. Just ask Curry.

"We have a standard that's pretty evident that -- if things stay the same, it's the definition of insanity, right? Keep doing the same thing, expecting a different result," Curry told reporters Wednesday. "So, as players, and what we can do, we have to control our effort, our focus, competitiveness, control the things that we can on the court. Like every NBA season, every organization, that stuff works itself out."

Paul, whose surgically repaired hand is expected to be re-evaluated at the end of January, is effectively on a $30.8 million expiring contract. Wiggins, who doesn't turn 29 until February but has somehow fallen off harder than any of his veteran teammates, is in Year 1 of a four-year, $109 million contract extension and has a salary of $24.3 million this season. Third-year forward Jonathan Kuminga is making $6 million, third-year wing Moses Moody $3.9 million and Payton and Kevon Looney are making $8.7 million and $7.5 million, respectively. Rookies Brandin Podziemski ($3.4 million) and Trayce Jackson-Davis ($1.1 million) have played well enough to have trade value, provided that Golden State is willing to part with them. All of this is to say that, in theory, the Warriors' front office has the ability to make major moves, minor tweaks and everything in between. The trouble is that it's not entirely clear what Golden State is looking for. Almost halfway through the season, it is still trying to figure out how to mix and match the current guys. 

Given how dismal the vibes are at the moment, any trade that could potentially lift the Warriors' spirits feels like a good idea. The problem is that the rest of the league sees them flailing, and desperate teams tend to make terrible trades. Golden State should be both making and taking trade calls, but it'll be easier to get something sensible done if it can first begin to get its act together. In the Warriors' ideal world, Green's return will both make the defense competent and help Kerr find a five-man lineup that he can trust to start and close games. In that same ideal world, Wiggins will be a part of that lineup rather than struggling to even justify a spot in the rotation.

Nothing has been ideal for Golden State this season, so it's not that easy to envision the team gathering a ton of momentum between now and the deadline. Regardless of how the Warriors play, though, that deadline is coming, and it could be something of a crossroads. With Curry, who turns 36 in March, still playing at an All-NBA level, the front office must do everything it can to make the most of this season. It will likely have to choose between several imperfect options.