NBA trade proposal sends Pelicans’ Zion Williamson to Warriors

This one lives firmly in hypothetical land, but it is the kind of idea that keeps popping up because it makes just enough sense to argue about.

The Warriors are operating at the uncomfortable intersection of urgency and nostalgia. The dynasty years are in the rearview mirror. The present has been uneven. And yet Stephen Curry is still playing like a man with real basketball left.

That matters.

It is why Golden State keeps sniffing around star-level names, and why Zion Williamson continues to surface in league-wide what-ifs. With all that in mind, here is a trade idea from James Piercey of Dallas Hoops Journal:

Warriors receive

• Zion Williamson

Pelicans receive

• Jonathan Kuminga
• Moses Moody
• Al Horford
• 2027 first-round pick

Why New Orleans Listens

Williamson remains one of the league’s most devastating interior scorers when he plays. He is averaging 22.6 points while shooting nearly 59 percent this season. The production is not the issue. Availability has been.

His contract reflects that tension. The guarantees loosen after this season, creating protection but also forcing decision points. Meanwhile, the Pelicans are quietly drifting toward a new timeline centered on Derik Queen. They paid a premium to get him. At some point, you have to build around that investment.

Kuminga offers flexibility. Moody offers shooting and defensive utility. The pick restores draft equity. None of it replaces Zion’s ceiling, but it spreads the risk.

Sometimes that is the point.

Why Golden State Thinks About It

This is about pairing forces.

Curry bends defenses outward. Williamson caves them in. One stretches the court to absurdity. The other turns the paint into a crime scene. When healthy, Williamson averages 24.4 points for his career, almost entirely at the rim. Few players in the league stress a defense more efficiently.

The Warriors would also be betting on contract mechanics. Zion’s remaining guarantees are conditional. That matters for a team staring at the back end of its competitive window.

Kuminga’s situation pushes this further. He is productive. He is talented. And he has already complicated his future in Golden State. Turning that uncertainty into one massive swing fits the Warriors’ current reality.

Big Picture

This is the kind of trade that only shows up when timelines crack.

Golden State would be admitting patience is definitely not the plan. New Orleans would be acknowledging the original vision never fully arrived. Neither outcome is clean. Both are honest.

And if nothing else, it explains why Zion-to-the-Warriors keeps floating back into the conversation. When a team still has Curry, standing still rarely feels like an option.