The Golden State Warriors‘ reported pursuit of Jaren Jackson Jr. before last season’s trade deadline just shows how aggressive, or, to be kind of unfair, how increasingly desperate the team has been trying to build one more contender around Stephen Curry.
According to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, the Warriors did try to look at a potential Jaren Jackson Jr. move before the Memphis Grizzlies eventually traded him to the Utah Jazz.
On paper, the interest did make sense. Jackson is a former Defensive Player of the Year, two-time All-Star, and still only 26 years old.
But his four-year, $204 million extension was yet to kick in, and that is a massive financial commitment, especially for a player who is not seen as a top-25 player in this league.
That is why this makes Golden State’s interest so revealing.
The Warriors have been searching for another major piece ever since Jimmy Butler suffered an ACL injury. They explored multiple possibilities at the previous deadline, but their only decent big move was that they were able to complete the Kristaps Porzingis deal.
Their pursuit was even far more aggressive this offseason. The Warriors were linked with several superstars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, and LeBron James, but they failed to land any of them.
After striking out across the market, the Warriors decided to largely run it back with the same roster, and that decision has also created a very strange dynamic.
The Warriors still have Curry and continue to operate like a franchise that is trying to extend its championship window. But their inability to land another difference-maker next to Curry suggests the front office might have also accepted the fact that they are no longer a championship team and this current roster cannot compete with the true elite of the West.
And these Jaren Jackson Jr. rumors only add to that point.
The Grizzlies got three first-round picks from Utah for Jackson, which is a big return. For the Warriors, matching or exceeding that kind of package while also taking on over $50 million in salary would have been a very big gamble.
Jackson would have definitely helped defensively and could have helped with frontcourt versatility, but there would have been no guarantee that he alone could have changed the Warriors’ championship outlook.
But still, the fact that the Warriors explored it shows how badly this organization wants another big move.
The pressure is only increasing because Curry is 38 and reaching the final stages of his career. He is widely expected to return on an extension, which gives the Warriors a good, decent incentive to avoid wasting seasons while he is still showing that he can play at an elite level.
Jimmy Butler’s situation is also another issue. There have been encouraging updates about his recovery, with reports suggesting that he is ahead of schedule in terms of his return from his ACL injury.
But even then, the Warriors could reportedly consider trading away Butler before the next trade deadline if this season’s start does not go as planned.
And that would give the Warriors another large salary to use in trade talks, with Draymond Green’s contract and future draft capital also in play, and that could potentially help them build a large blockbuster package.
The Warriors therefore remain positioned to go after another star.
The problem is that even rival teams know how badly the Warriors want to get one star, and that desperation could become very dangerous in negotiations, especially if the Warriors start overpaying simply because they just feel the pressure to maximize Stephen Curry’s remaining years.
The Jaren Jackson pursuit is just the latest example.
The Warriors are still hunting for the championship-level second act around Curry, but the list of stars they have missed on is becoming so much longer than the list they have actually acquired.