Could you imagine the current Warriors team without the Splash Bros?

Well, this almost happened according to The Athletic writer Ethan Sherwood Strauss. In his new book, The Victory Machine, he reports that the Golden State Warriors almost sealed a deal that would have sent both Splash Brothers to the franchise from Louisiana in exchange for, back then, 4-time All Star Chris Paul.

This deal didn’t happen in the end due to Paul telling both Golden State and Boston, who were also after the coveted point guard, that he wouldn’t sign an extension with neither of them if he were traded to any of those two franchises. This was reported by famous ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski.

It must also be said that Strauss has simply repeated what Sports Illustrated writer Sam Amick informed back in December 2011. Apparently, the Warriors had this massive plan that involved multiple pieces. First, they were planning on sending both Curry and Thompson along side the 6th pick in the 2010 Draft, Ekpe Udoh, to New Orleans in exchange for Paul. If that had gone through, then they would have released Andris Biedrins and signed Tyson Chandler. Yes, the same Tyson Chandler that had just won the Larry O’Brien trophy with the Dallas Mavericks who also went on to win Defensive Player of the Year in the 2011-12 season.

Strauss states in his book that “according to one GM ‘The Warriors were blind lucky that they were unsuccessful in trading Steph and Klay together for the stars they offered them together for,… There were many, many people they tried to get and failed.'”

Klay Thompson still wasn’t safe from trade rumors as in June 2014 some experts like ESPN basketball analyst Marc J. Spears reported that a trade could have happened between the Timberwolves and the team from the Bay Area, sending Kevin Love and Kevin Martin to the Oakland based team at the time and Klay Thompson and David Lee to Minnesota.

Looking back into this you could say the Warriors had luck on their side, even though owner Joe Lacob proclaimed that the organization was “light-years ahead” in comparison to others when it came to planning for the future and building a solid team.

Also, if these trade doesn’t make much sense now, try to remember that back in 2011 things were much different from nowadays. Stephen Curry, the now 3-time NBA Champion, 2-time MVP and 6-time All Star, was just another player entering his third year in the league and struggling with lots of ankle issues and Klay Thompson, also 3-time Champion and 5-time All Star, hadn’t even played a single minute of NBA basketball because that season started in December due to the lockdown.