A Look Ahead for the Warriors Offseason
This story is starting to get a little old to retell.
Despite a vintage performance from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green - plus major contributions from up and down the roster, namely Al Horford’s sharpshooting and Gui Santos’s elevated self-creation - to get them to the second stage of the Play-In Tournament, the Warriors suffered a wire-to-wire defeat at the hands of the Phoenix Suns, ending their season about where it had been expected to end for some time now. The long-term injuries to Curry and Jimmy Butler ultimately capped the ceiling for this season’s squad, though the grit they had down the stretch really makes you wonder if something greater couldn’t have been accomplished with a little more luck and some better roster construction.
No matter how things ended, this offseason faces some potentially-major shakeups. Based on his interviews and a number of mixed reporting, there’s a mounting chance that this is Steve Kerr’s last season as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Green’s recap of the situation during the latest Draymond Green Show episode seemed to imply that he doesn’t believe Kerr will be back despite wanting that to be the case, and even expressed some skepticism about whether or not he’ll be a Warrior going into next year - the all-time great defender has a player option he can exercise to either renegotiate or give somewhere else a go, either by his own volition or by a trade to offload his deal’s final year.
A new coach on the Warriors would indicate a change in philosophy for the most part. When the team could forego a few of the more important analytics because of their phenomenal offensive and defensive prowess, they could get away with Kerr’s more fluid style; That’s subject to adjustment should someone else take the helm, and would change the look and needs of roster construction that the team would have. Florida’s Will Hardy and UConn’s Dan Hurley are two names that have popped up as potential replacements, but until Kerr is confirmed gone, it’ll be hard to project who the next head coach in San Francisco will be, and what style of hoops they’ll be bringing with them.
A lot of this is, truthfully, up in the air, and are things we won’t have answers for until likely after the conclusion of the NBA Finals and around the start of free agency. There’s also plenty of rumors which could contribute to how things shake out: Reports indicated that the Warriors were interested in acquiring Clippers star Kawhi Leonard around the trade deadline where they ended up with Kristaps Porzingis. Any deal involving Leonard would likely mean Porzingis is headed elsewhere unless a bigger deal involving Dray or Butler is made, and even then it may take one of those two to get it done at all.
Golden State still does have a few of their regular contributors under contract for next season, of course. Moses Moody, Gui Santos, and Brandin Podziemski all have contracts going into next year, as does Will Richard who hit a bit of a rookie wall around the all-star break. De’Anthony Melton has expressed a desire to return but is willing to explore his market to potentially make more, and Gary Payton II has been rumored to be returning but nothing solid on that yet. It’s likely the Warriors will have to shop around for players interested in veteran minimums or guys looking to prove themselves and stay in the league, as was the case in the younger years where the team could get away with guys that Steph and Dray elevated - in their older years, they’ll need more reliable guys who aren’t just good system fits.
Aside from coaching changes and veteran adds to the roster, there’s also the question of the NBA Draft. Currently, the Warriors lottery odds have them picking at #11 in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. Right around their position, there’s a number of projected prospects who could be ready-made contributors, namely Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg (a two-way contributor with plenty of experience and good true shooting numbers) and Aday Mara (a 7-foot center with a rangy wingspan to defend or finish at the rim), as well as Texas’s Dailyn Swain (an excellent downhill wing with high two-way upside and excellent athleticism) and Tennessee’s Nate Ament (a versatile play connector who has shown historic signs of good touch). There’s a real scenario where the Warriors use their lottery pick and a contract to pick up a player like Trey Murphy, but with the amount of talent in this draft, they wouldn’t need to fret much if any of their other options are unavailable.
We say every year that this is probably the last dance, but as reality sets in, it’s entirely possible we just truly witnessed it. Stephen Curry’s said that he wants to stay a Warrior for his career, but as pieces of the dynasty move on to the next stages in their careers, the prospect of the end of the Steph era is becoming all too real all too quickly. A lot hinges on this offseason, with plenty decisions to be made and plenty more to be seen.
(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)