Steve Kerr has been in and around the NBA for decades, and no trade deadline gets any easier for him.
But after the Warriors parted ways with beloved forward Andrew Wiggins in a blockbuster deal that brought Jimmy Butler to Golden State via a report 45 minutes before the Warriors were set to face the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, Kerr shared a solicitous suggestion to the league.
"I think the league should consider making the trade deadline at the All-Star break," Kerr said after Golden State's 131-128 collapse to Utah, "just so you don't have to face these games where guys are getting traded half an hour before a game and you're trying to process the emotions and win a game.
"I don't know if it's possible, but it'd be great if we could move it back. Or make the last couple of days before the deadline or off days. I don't know how to do it but these are tough days for sure."
"These are tough days for sure."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 6, 2025
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr weighs in on the challenges of the NBA trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/QIglHi6dBT
The Warriors traded Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round pick to Miami for Butler, sent Dennis Schröder to the Jazz and Lindy Waters III to the Detroit Pistons in the multi-team trade.
About an hour before tip-off at Delta Center, Kerr met with the team to inform the players that Wiggins, Schröder, Anderson and Waters were being traded as part of the four-team deal. Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski later revealed the emotional aftermath of hearing the news.
Golden State Warriors
"Very sad moment, obviously, just an hour before tip-off, we lost four of our brothers," Podziemski told Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike on the NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast. "So it was sad. There were some tears but at the end of the day, we have to do our job. We're just doing it for them. But just try to come out and be aggressive.
"Obviously, we're a lot of people down now and someone else has to step up and that's what I'm here to do."
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The emotions clearly carried over onto the hardwood early for the Warriors, who began Wednesday's game sluggish before blowing an 11-point lead late in the fourth quarter of a crushing loss to the Jazz.
With an NBA trade deadline as shocking as this one has been, including the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, the Kings trading De'Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs for Zach LaVine and now Butler in the Bay, It might never get any easier for players and teams. Perhaps one day, though, the league will consider Kerr's suggestion.
