Golden State Warriors
Dec 13, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) high fives forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans 113-109. USA TODAY Sports/Derick E. Hingle

The Golden State Warriors (47-9) are not expected to make any changes to their roster ahead of Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline, contrary to earlier reports that they would be shopping for a rim protector. A few hours after the 3:00 p.m. ET (7:00 a.m. AEDT) cut off period for trades, the Warriors will kick off the post All-Star break portion of the season against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Oracle Area.

According to Kevin Jones of KNBR, the front office and coaching staff are perfectly fine with a low-key NBA Trade Deadline while other teams around the league make a last-dash effort to improve their rosters. If anything, most teams are trying to enhance their personnel with hopes of competing against the mighty Warriors, who are on course for a third consecutive season of 65+ regular season victories.

During their first practice session back from the All-Star break, Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted that the team has no intention to experiment with their roster ahead of the postseason. “I don’t feel like we’re going to change or experiment anymore in any way. Like changing a rotation or anything like that. We’re still trying to get better, but I don’t anticipate moving pieces around much. I kind of like our rotation as is.”

In other news, the Warriors squad will be bolstered by the returns of big men Zaza Pachulia and David West, who missed a handful of games due to injury. West, who joined the Warriors in free agency, missed the last 14 games with a fractured left thumb sustained against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 18. “I would say there’s a good chance both of them would play tomorrow (against the Clippers). We’ll see," Kerr told CSN Bay Area before acknowledging that he could continue with JaVale McGee as the starter despite Pachulia's return.

NBA Trade Deadline: Do Warriors need another rim protector?

For several months, analysts have listed "rim protection" as the Warriors' primary weakness and their Achilles heel going into the playoffs. However, Golden State leads the NBA in defensive team stats such as opponent field goal percentage (.436), blocks (6.6) and steals (9.6), shrugging off fears that Kerr's men could struggle to protect the rim against LeBron James during a potential NBA finals rematch in June.

Shaun Livingston, a free agent over the summer, reckons the team's mindset has seen a sea-change since last year when the goal was to win 73 games besides repeating as NBA champions. “I think so (our mentality has changed). It’s a different process. Last year we were still trying to get better, but obviously, we were doing something historic in the sense of trying to chase the record. We might not have said it publicly, but as competitors we wanted it.

“Now this year, that’s not really the main focus. The focus is the championship. It was like that last year, it was just different. It was staggered. So now, we can really lock in on what we need to do to accomplish our ultimate goal," added Livingston, who is a key member of Golden State's second unit. Would the Warriors try to acquire an additional rim protector or rebounder ahead of Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline?

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