Report: Warriors' Trade Offer for Jaren Jackson Jr. Revealed

Everyone knows the Golden State Warriors' Plan A at the trade deadline was Giannis Antetokounmpo.

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported that their Plan B was Jaren Jackson Jr.

Siegel wrote the following about Golden State's offer to Memphis for the two-time All-Star big:

"The Warriors' final offer for Jackson was some variation of two clear draft picks, some sort of swap, Kuminga, Buddy Hield, and another contract for salary purposes, sources said."

Siegel added that the Warriors were not willing to trade a first-round pick between 2029 and 2032. So the two firsts that they would have traded would have been in 2026 and 2028.

Lastly, Siegel wrote that the Warriors were unwilling to include Moses Moody in a Jackson trade.

The Utah Jazz ended up meeting the Grizzlies' asking price of three first-round picks to trade for Jackson.

Should the Warriors Have Included a Third 1st-Round Pick for Jackson?

Jackson's value is difficult to place.

On the one hand, he's a talented scorer who can shoot threes and defend at a high level.

On the other hand, he doesn't rebound well, he fouls too much, and he's never been an extremely efficient scorer.

Still, I think he's just good enough that the Warriors should have offered another protected first-round pick in 2030.

Whether that would have been enough to land him is anyone's guess.

Ultimately, the Warriors needed get a more impactful player with the Jonathan Kuminga trade chip than Kristaps Porzingis. There's a very real scenario in which Porzingis can't stay healthy, leaving the Warriors with no value gained from the Kuminga trade in 2026-27.

So, sure, they have all their first-round picks to make a move this offseason, but they don't have a young player on an expiring contract to facilitate a big trade anymore.

Making the money work in an offseason trade for a star will be much more difficult without Kuminga's contract. Including Draymond Green might be a necessity, and he might be viewed as a negative asset.

Were the Warriors Right to Leave Moody Out of the Trade Offer?

I strongly agree with the Warriors' insistence that Moody be left out of a trade for Jackson.

Moody is the Warriors' best three-and-D wing. He'll never be more than a role player, but championship teams need quality role players, so he has a lot of value for Golden State.

Had the Warriors traded Moody and Kuminga for Jackson, they would have had almost no way to get a quality wing in the offseason. They wouldn't have the ability to give De'Anthony Melton a competitive contract offer either.