Warriors' vitals not up to championship level at midway mark, but significant trade still feels unlikely
The Golden State Warriors are past the halfway point of their season and they're under .500 at 21-22, good enough, or bad enough, for the West's No. 8 seed and just one game clear, as crazy as it sounds, of a spot in the lottery. The defending champs have lost four of their last five to a decidedly bad group of opponents including the Pistons, Magic, the injury-depleted Suns and now the Bulls, who took out Golden State 132-118 on Sunday without DeMar DeRozan. Golden State's vitals don't look great: 17th in offense, 19th in defense, negative net rating and the worst road record in the league. The Warriors attempt the fewest free throws while allowing the most. They have the league's second-worst turnover rate and make fewer restricted-area shots per game than any other team. It makes for a tough shot diet, mostly jumpers, which the Warriors are still equipped to survive and even thrive on, but...