On 95.7 The Game's Willard and Dibs, Anthony Slater said the Golden State Warriors probably want to add “a couple more mid-prime” players this summer and argued the team lost a piece of that profile when Andrew Wiggins was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in February.
Slater put it bluntly: “You probably want a couple more mid-prime. That's been I think the problem over the last few years. Like even remember you trade Andrew Wiggins. It's like man you traded one of the guys that was like late 20's, mid to late 20s.” The point underscored a roster gap that shows up plainly on paper: the Warriors this season had only five players aged between 26 and 30, and none of those five were a bonafide starter when the team was healthy.
The numerical shortfall matters because Wiggins was not just another roster slot. He was a 2022 NBA champion with Golden State who developed into a two-way wing during his time with the franchise, the sort of player who can cover defensive assignments and still provide reliable offense. Slater’s line that the team traded away “one of the guys that was like late 20's” is a shorthand for losing a player squarely in his prime.
Compounding the issue are injury problems that will stretch into next season: the Warriors lost Butler and Moses Moody to long-term knee injuries that the team says will bleed into the next campaign. Those absences further strip away the mid-prime minutes and force younger and older players into larger roles.
The context is simple and immediate. The roster’s age distribution is skewed toward the extremes — younger players still developing and veterans pushing the late stages of their careers. Slater summarized the risk in another line aimed at construction balance: “You don't want to be loaded with 19-year-olds and 37-year-olds.” That line captures the organizational itch to find more players who sit between growth and decline.
That tension — a desire for balance versus the roster the team currently fields — is the clearest friction in Slater’s assessment. Golden State traded away a player who had settled into his prime and was capable on both ends; the club now faces a summer in which it must decide whether to chase established mid-prime wings or double down on youth and veteran presence. The fact that none of the five players aged 26–30 were considered bonafide starters when healthy raises the stakes: additions would need to be impact-level mid-prime players, not depth pieces.
Slater’s comments on 95.7 The Game are not a trade blueprint, but they are a plain statement of what the franchise lacks right now: more players in the middle of their careers who can produce immediately. The loss of Wiggins to Atlanta in February removed a proven two-way option and leaves the Warriors with a roster that, by his read, leans toward developmental upside and veteran steadiness without enough of the bridge between them.
The single consequence readers should watch this summer is whether Golden State actually moves to fill that middle — whether in free agency or on the trade market the front office pursues the mid-prime wings Slater said the team probably wants. Given the injuries that will carry over, and the departure of a 2022 NBA champion who had become a reliable two-way player, the most consequential test for the Warriors this offseason will be restoring the kind of mid-career balance Slater says they traded away.
