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The Warriors came into the trade deadline looking to do one thing: shave a little bit of cap space to avoid paying prohibitive luxury taxes. In that regard, they were successful, dealing away little-used prospects Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins for second round picks.
Both players have had very similar career arcs since: both were drafted in the second round in 2011, played minor roles in their rookie seasons, and then saw those roles disappear, with both currently averaging less than two points per game.
Jenkins, a point guard out of Hofstra, scored 5.8 points and had 3.3 assists per game in limited minutes last season, but averaged just six minutes per game this year. The 76ers got him for a second-round pick.
Tyler, a 6'10 center who skipped college to play professionally overseas, averaged 4.9 points in his rookie year with Golden State, but he has played just 63 total minutes this season. The Hawks took him on, also for a second-round pick.
The reasoning behind the trades is simple: It was clear Golden State wanted to make moves to cut $1.2 million in payroll and avoid the repeater tax, something explained in detail by Tom Ziller Wednesday. The Warriors cut $1.5 million, thus fulfilling their goal and gaining much greater financial flexibility -- plus, they get a couple of second-round picks. It's never popular to make moves for purely financial reasons, but neither Jenkins nor Tyler was going to make much of a difference in a playoff push for the Warriors, so they'll take the money and the picks.
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