Sixers

Decision to Trade Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III Apparently Didn’t Sit Well With Warriors Players

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Feb 6th, 2020 · 11:14 AM EST

---

Not like it matters what the players think, since it’s a business, and difficult decisions are made at the trade deadline by people above them.

But Anthony Slater at The Athletic wrote a good piece about the Warriors’ decision to trade Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson to the Sixers, giving us some info about the moments when teammates found out about the move, before going out and getting clobbered by 41 points in Brooklyn.

Writes Slater, in a story titled “Was it wise for the Warriors to trade Glenn Robinson and Alec Burks away for three second-rounders?” –

…this hit the locker room like a sledgehammer. Before the game, Kerr called the team for a meeting and turned it into a group goodbye session. He had players express their appreciation for Robinson and Burks, two steady vets who have helped guide a young core through a losing season. There was no pregame film. They just sauntered onto the court, now missing their best bench scorer and best perimeter defender, and let a below-average Nets team smack them by 41.

“There’s not really a good way to prepare for a game when something like that happens,” Kerr said.

The pregame shock had turned to more of a ticked-off postgame vibe. This combo decision by the shot-callers above wasn’t a popular one at ground zero, even if it proves to be correct lever-pulling in the long term.

It was probably a good move for both teams. The Warriors didn’t have much in terms of future second round draft picks, so they acquired three with this deal. Philly added some scoring via two bench pieces and didn’t give up the more valuable second rounders they possess, like the 2020 Hawks and Knicks picks.