The Golden State Warriors extended their win streak in the NBA Cup. They improved to 3-0 in the competition and marked another convincing victory. The shorthanded Pelicans lost to the plethora of options the Bay boasts. Despite a season-ending injury to De’Anthony Melton, their depth remains a strength, according to Steve Kerr. However, given Melton’s elite fit alongside Curry, is a trade necessary?

Ideally, it would be. And there are some candidates too. Notably, it’s always better to lose a player for something rather than let them walk for free. Jonathan Kuminga, playing great basketball, is still without a contract. With his regular role off the bench, trade rumors have often loomed around his name.

However, there are three reasons the Golden State Warriors might not consider making any moves to disturb their ranks at the trade deadline.

Jonathan Kuminga is a vital part of the Warriors’ depth

As mentioned before, a large part of the Warriors’ early season success is owed to Steve Kerr’s new tactics. His 12-man rotation has kept opponents guessing with the varied combinations the renowned coach tends to offer. Tonight was no different. The Warriors got 43 points from their bench on a bad day. Normally, their second strings average the most points in the NBA.

“We’re just trying to find different guys each game and we have a deep team and we’re confident that we can find a group that’s going to be able to take us home,” said the nine-time champion about his squad’s flexibility.

Jonathan Kuminga plays a large part in that. Not only does Kerr like the 22-year-old’s slashing play style, but he has also found genuine success in the role. He’s averaging 14.6 points coming off the bench, the 9th most in the league this season. Hence, even though he stands without a contract, his impact and ease with Kerr this season are a huge reason behind the Warriors’ unlikelihood of making moves.

The new CBA is always a challenge

It was from this season that the NBA levied more restrictions through the new CBA. Second apron teams are under a greater burden. They can’t aggregate salaries, such teams have their first-round picks frozen, and so on. The Warriors are in the first apron, and there are a few restrictions they have to deal with.

It being the first year of the agreement, there are still some concepts teams don’t understand. Notably, an anonymous NBA executive expressed these sentiments to ESPN. “We were looking at a trade concept the other day and there were three reasons the other team wouldn’t be allowed to do it — one of the rules I didn’t even know about,” Windhorst reported.

Among the rule changes is the inability to trade a player they signed in December. Because they can’t offload salaries till the trade deadline, taking on another contract pushes their salary cap into the second apron. Having used their exception on Melton, the Warriors remain hard-capped at the first apron. With barely a million to spend, the Warriors’ roster doesn’t have much wiggle room to make any significant adjustments to their roster.

And as their GM Mike Dunlavy said, “There’s no point going all in to be slightly above average,”. So till something is working, why try to fix it?

The Warriors aren’t the only team fenced into the first apron

Even with all the constraints, if a move is to be made out of desperation, a franchise would. The Warriors, sitting at 12-3 and the top seed, there is no need for the same. However, other teams aren’t in a similar position. Most of them still can’t make any great moves. That’s because, similar to the Warriors, those who didn’t want to break the bank set limitations on themselves.

According to the ESPN report, 13 teams are hard capped at the first apron. This includes teams such as the Thunder and even the Raptors, who could have some tempting pieces to offer. Notably, Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl is becoming a popular candidate to move, and contenders want him.

In normal circumstances, the Warriors would have leaped at the opportunity. They have their lowest point production from the center position and decide to start without a big man. Draymond Green usually takes that spot. However, for the Raptors and Bay to facilitate any moves, neither can move players they traded for before the start of the season.

These are the reasons the Warriors might not stay active during the trade deadline this season.