Remember when Alec Burks was on the Warriors as their de facto #1 scoring option? That seems like so long ago. Like it happened in a different reality, almost. Things were so innocent back then. If you had combined the words “NBA” and “bubble” in a sentence, people would have thought you were talking about Zion Williamson and how you need to put him into a safety bubble so that he wouldn’t injure himself anymore. The only pandemic was the Warriors’ injury report.
Let’s take off those rose-tinted glasses. Alec Burks on the Warriors was fun, sure, but it was just a launching point for him to get on a better team where he could play a role and help win some damn games. At this point in his career, Burks wasn’t the long-term answer for the Warriors. They needed to develop players in preparation for the return of the splash brothers. Then they traded for Andrew Wiggins, which didn’t make sense, but whatever. (My apologies if the timeline of events here is wrong. Everything that happened back then is all hazy and indistinct).
Now Josh Richardson is slumping hard but Burks is there to pic up the slack! This is exactly why they got him! To pick up some scoring slack when somebody (or somebodies) go cold! Sometimes GM Elton Brand can accidentally complete a transaction that actually makes the team better!