Each year, the NBA's trade deadline creates an air of uncertainty around the entire league. Outside of a handful of superstar players that are perceived as untouchable, everyone else is liable to have a new home at a moment's notice — and if the Luka Doncic trade from last year is any indicator, some players may not even be as untouchable as they seem.

This year, it's no different for the Golden State Warriors. In fact, it's probably even more rampant for the Bay Area squad than it's been in previous years, barring perhaps last year, considering all of the rumors and demands they've had to deal with.

Jonathan Kuminga's trade demand was the talk of the town for a few days on the back of his offseason and season-long drama regarding his contract and team role. With Jimmy Butler's ACL injury and Giannis Antetokounmpo suddenly becoming available for trade, the future of the team as it currently stands was immediately thrown to the wind.

The Warriors seemed to be heavily affected by the trade rumors circulating, as they lost a crushing game to the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-94, on Tuesday night. Even though they were without Steph Curry due to a knee issue, the rest of the Warriors' performance wasn't great, to say the least.

Steve Kerr talked postgame if he thought the Warriors were playing as if they were affected by the trade talks.

"Maybe, I don't know. I do think that the NBA season — it’s 82 games and you can almost feel the ebbs and flows when you coach a team, when you're part of a group. You can almost predict when things are going to go well and when things are going to go poorly, overall health, mood, vibe. This was not a good vibe for us tonight and doesn't matter what the trade chatter is. It’s everyone’s job to bring the energy, bring the fight."

Kerr went on to analyze his players' performance in the context of how the 76ers and Warriors approached this game.

"It was the whole point of tonight. They're on a back-to-back, we haven't played in three days, we’re going to come out and bring the juice, we’re going to bring the fight to them. First five minutes we had guys turning it over, not running back, sulking, like no, it’s about competing. It’s about competing for 48 (minutes) for 82 games is you have to establish that and that’s the most disappointing thing about tonight’s game for me. I didn't feel that like I needed to feel it, like we need to feel it as a group."

With the loss, the Warriors moved to 4-8 without Curry this season and marked their third loss in a row without their superstar. In those three games, it's been a disaster offensively.

The Warriors scored 94, 83, and 94 points, shooting less than 39% from the field and 31% from three in those games. They also average 18.7 turnovers per game and simply do not look like a competent team without Curry to lead the way.

The Warriors will be without Curry again on Thursday on the road against the Phoenix Suns, so who needs to step up?

One clear answer is Brandin Podziemski, the Warriors' lead guard when Curry is on the bench. Over those three games, he averaged just 10.7 points while shooting 32.4% from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc. Considering he has a green light — averaging 11.3 field goal attempts per game and a usage percentage over 25% — it's a disappointing outcome.

In addition to Podziemski, some of the other guards, like De'Anthony Melton and Moses Moody, will also need to pull their weight from the perimeter, and it's crucial that big men Quinten Post and Al Horford make their mark on the inside next to Draymond Green.