After failing to make the playoffs despite a relatively healthy and productive season from two-time MVP Stephen Curry, it’s clear the Golden State Warriors can’t run it back with the same main core again.

Change is inevitable, but the debate now centers on how close the Warriors are to jumping back into genuine contention and reviving a dynasty that many believe is officially over.

A blockbuster trade and savvy free agent signing could see the Golden State Warriors return towards the top of the Western Conference

Golden State’s 10th-place finish in the West and their disastrous Play-In Tournament defeat to the Sacramento Kings would suggest they’re a mile from the likes of the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.

However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Warriors did finish with a 46-36 record, including a 27-12 record over the final 39 games of the season. They were one of the best teams in NBA history to not make the playoffs, though the same could be said for the Kings who went on to lose to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Warriors are more than one move away, needing to utilize both free agency and the trade market to retool a roster that evidently needs more support around Curry. That won’t be easy given the financial restrictions upon them, yet Golden State do possess young assets and almost all their future picks that places them in position to trade for a star.

With the franchise still hoping to resurrect their best and regain their stature as one of the league’s best, let’s look at one trade and one free agent signing that could lift the Warriors back into championship contention.

Trade Acquisition: Kevin Durant

The easiest way for the Warriors to launch back into a title contender is to acquire a superstar, and there’s little doubt a reunion with Kevin Durant would fit the requirement of more support for Curry.

Durant’s future has been a source of conversation ever since the Suns embarrasing first-round elimination. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith went further into detail on a segment of First Take earlier this week, stating that the 35-year-old is “never happy” in Phoenix.

The two-time Finals MVP would have to request a trade again, and ideally specifically to the Warriors if this is any chance of happening. The Suns aren’t going to want to help their pacific rival out, even if Golden State would have a reasonable offer that could help replenish Phoenix’s young and future assets.

The Warriors’ package would perhaps look something like Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and one or multiple first-round picks. While the franchise could retain the young duo of Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis, it would be a certain sign of prioritizing the next two or three seasons around Curry, Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

As unhappy as Durant may have been in Phoenix under now-axed coach Frank Vogel, he still put up absurd offensive numbers. The two-time Finals MVP averaged 27.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists, shooting 52.3% from the floor and 41.3% from three-point range. A Durant-Curry combination may not be as formidable as it was in their first iteration, but it would very likely lift the Warriors back towards the top of the conference.

Free Agent Signing: Simone Fontecchio

As a team in the luxury tax, the Warriors will once again be limited with what they can do come free agency. That means they need to look at sneaky value signings, rather than any huge splash like what they did with Durant in 2016.

Simone Fontecchio may fit the bill as a player who could provide huge impact, yet doesn’t have a huge sample size which could keep him within Golden State’s price range. After a year and a half in Utah following an extensive career in Europe, the Italian exploded with greater opportunity on a league-worst Detroit Pistons team.

Fontecchio was one of the few positives for the Pistons over the final weeks of the season, averaging 15.4 points and 4.4 rebounds on a hot 42.6% from three-point range. That’s not some outlier number though, with the 28-year-old having shot 39.1% from beyond the arc in his 50 games with the Jazz prior to the trade.

If the Warriors were to pull of the Durant trade, signing someone like Fontecchio would become a high priority given they’d likely give up a pair of forwards in Wiggins and Kuminga, along with one of their best three-point shooters in Moody. He’s the type of plug-and-play option who could close a game in a lineup alongside Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green.

Yet even if the franchise didn’t acquire Durant, there would still be a need for Fontecchio given Golden State’s lack of three-point shooting in the front court. In the Warriors hunt for an Otto Porter Jr. type player from their 2022 championship season, Fontecchio may be someone capable of filling the void.