Listening to James Jones today, I don’t think they are planning on a trade. Basically it sounds like only if something advantageous presents itself, but they aren’t looking for one. He wants this team to develop for the rest of the season.
I don’t really understand this desire by fans to get rid of Warren before the deadline. What is the rush?
I'm in favor of trading Warren and I've been against it for a long while because I always thought he was undervalued. At this point though I think he's your "good stats on a bad team" player though and doesn't help you win. It would be nice if he could be our 6th man but he doesn't seem to be content doing that so we should be listening to offers for him, if nothing else, and look to move him this offseason if a good trade doesn't present itself before the deadline. He doesn't need to be dealt right away but he should be shopped around. His value is likely at an all time high with his 3pt shooting finally being good enough to really stretch the floor. The problem with keeping him is he doesn't want to come off the bench but he's not a PF and he's currently our 2nd best SF that could end up being our 4th best SF by the end of next season if we resign Oubre and develop Bridges and Jackson. I would say Oubre is better than him now but TJ is better than both Bridges and JJ at the moment. Bridges and JJ are both better defenders but TJ brings a good scoring punch but that's all he brings to the table. Once they can average at least 10 a game consistently they'll probably surpass him based on their defense also.
TJ's scoring does not help us win games, which is a problem. I think part of that is more than how he scores, which was sort of one dimensional in years past, but it has to more to do with once he touches the ball then he's going to shoot it. He doesn't pass nearly enough. Even though he can now be a catch and shoot threat and hit his 3's, he doesn't offer anything else. When he gets the ball everyone knows he's taking a shot. He doesn't help get others going offensively and a bit of a ball hog, even though he is fairly efficient. If you're scoring 20 points a game then you should average at least 3 assists a game from passing out of doubles or keeping defenses guessing but TJ doesn't come close at 1.7 a game as a starter this year and 19.7 ppg. In the top 20 scorers in the league only 2 average less than 3 assists per game, Karl-Anthony Towns at #17 and 22.2 ppg with 2.9 assists and Klay Thompson at 21.9 ppg and 2.0 apg. Towns is a Center who played all but his last 2 games in Thibs slow it down style and also had to deal with the Butler fiasco for the first month and a half of the season. Klay has 3 playmakers on the floor with him and is the Warriors 4th option to get the ball. The Warriors have 3 starters averaging more than assists, Green with 7.0, Durant with 6.1, and Curry with 5.5. It's not a surprise Klay has a low assist rate sharing the floor with those 3 because he's scoring for their assists. TJ is our #2 scorer though and just doesn't pass.
On defense TJ is our 4th best SF, which is a nice way of saying our worst SF at defense. Once Bridges and Jackson get more consistent offensively then they will make it harder to justify giving TJ 30+ minutes a game. Booker gets excused for his defense because he does so much offensively but TJ doesn't do nearly what Booker does because TJ only does for himself. He doesn't get the same pass that Booker does and he's also not a very good rebounder and that's obvious with him playing "PF" by default. He doesn't want to come off the bench, isn't a good defender, only produces for himself offensively, and doesn't rebound a lot either. What does he bring that Oubre, Jackson, and Bridges can't provide? Don't get me wrong, I've always been a fan and don't want him traded just to trade him but he's probably one of our best trade chips right now since he's on a good contract and can provide a playoff team with some extra scoring. Let's see what he can bring back. Don't force a deal, there is no rush, but there shouldn't be a future beyond this season either.
Thought I'd add that if he'll accept being our 6th man then I'd be ok rethinking a trade but it depends on if he was pouting earlier in the season about coming off the bench because he was clearly playing better than Anderson and Ariza or if he just didn't want to come off the bench. Jones and Igor should know the answer to that and if he's ok coming off the bench for players who are producing then Oubre should take his starting spot. We can move him back into the starting 5 if Booker sits out because then he could provide scoring but that's also when he got visibly pouty earlier this season, when Jackson took Booker's spot in the starting 5. With Melton and Bridges being starters right now though TJ can could cover for Booker in the starting 5 with Bridges going from SF to SG.
