Where do the Golden State Warriors go from here?
The glory days when the Golden State Warriors made the NBA Finals for 5 consecutive seasons and won 3 titles seem like a thing of the past. In hindsight, the defeat of the Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors may have been the end of their glorious dynasty.
The Injuries
Kevin Durant left the team to join the Brooklyn Nets, and Klay Thompson missed the entirety of the following season with a torn ACL. That left the Warriors team severely short-handed. Steph Curry's broken wrist injury 5 games into the 2019-20 season did not help either. The guard ended up featuring in only one more game before the pandemic-hit season ended.
The Warriors only won 15 games that season, the fewest of the 30 teams in the NBA. Finishing bottom of the Conference brought with it the reward of a high draft pick, which the Warriors used to draft center James Wiseman.
The build-up to the 2021 season was sullied on the night of the draft, however, when news emerged that Klay Thompson had torn his right Achilles tendon and would miss the entirety of the 2021 season as well.
The Warriors were left in the lurch by the news. The prospect of another Championship run was over before the season had even begun.
Chef Curry's Cooking
To his credit, Steph Curry really stepped up to the plate, putting up MVP caliber numbers and leading the league in points per through the course of the regular season, thereby becoming the league's scoring champion.
Steph Curry was by far the most lethal scoring option for the Warriors on the floor. The opposition doubled and triple-teamed him the moment he crossed the halfway line to smother his long range shooting. Despite this, Steph Curry maintained his lethal scoring form for the Warriors.
Injuries took their toll on the Warriors as important players like Kelly Oubre and James Wiseman missed the bulk of the final part of the regular season and despite Curry's phenomenal season, the Warriors failed to make the playoffs.
Where do they go from here?
Steph Curry showed this season that even at 33, he remains one of the most destructive attacking players in the league and with the right help on the roster, he is more than capable of carrying the franchise back into the playoffs at the very least.
The question then is - what is the right help?
Klay Thompson's return will be very welcome. However, the question is just how good will Klay be upon his return? Before his injury Klay was not only an excellent shooter from beyond the 3 point line, he was also the best perimeter defender on the team and would guard the opposition's best perimeter player in every game.
It is hard to imagine Klay being close to that level of excellence after missing two whole NBA seasons with injuries. However, if he return to even 90% of what he used to be, it would be an upgrade on what the Warriors had this season and would be the 2nd best player on the roster behind Curry.
The Warriors finished 8th in Western Conference which in any other season would have secured them a playoff spot. However, the Warriors lost both their games in this season's one-off play-in tournament, and were sent home.
Klay's return, even with no other changes to the roster, should be enough to get them to at least the 5th or 6th seed next season. The Warriors have higher ambitions than that though. Merely the return of Klay is unlikely to make them the title challengers they are used to being.
The Warriors are an undersized team and were often dominated by opposition big men in rebounds - most notably Jonas Valanciunas and Xavier Tillman in the play-in game which the Warriors lost against the Memphis Grizzlies. The injury to James Wiseman left the Warriors very short in that department, but it is unlikely that the rookie centre's presence would have made too much of a difference.
James Wiseman, by all accounts, had a disappointing season considering the Warriors drafted him 2nd and ahead of LaMelo Ball, the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award. He went missing in many games and though he averaged an acceptable 11.5 points per game, he caught a mere 5.8 rebounds per game.
Even so, Wiseman showed enough glimpses of his talent to suggest that he could yet become a dominant player in the league in a few seasons.
Steph Curry, who is 33, cannot wait a few seasons for James Wiseman to develop into a role player capable of helping the team to an NBA Championship.
The Trade Option
Curry needs a team ready to win now and James Wiseman doesn't seem to fit that timeline. Adding a big center would go a long way to improving the team. The Warriors are already over the NBA's salary cap due to the huge salaries they are paying to Curry, Klay, Green and Wiggins. Signing a free agent in the offseason to fill the hole is out of the question.
The Warriors do have some very tempting tradeable assets that could help land them a top player. There are two draft picks - one from the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Warriors' own draft pick - which is going to be higher than it would have been had they made the playoffs.
The draft class of 2021 is very deep and even around the 10-14 spots, there are likely to be some very good players. So those 2 draft picks are very tempting bait for other teams.
Then there is James Wiseman and despite his less than satisfactory season, teams are still high on his potential. A trade package comprising of James Wiseman and the 2 draft picks would tempt many teams.
While Curry, Klay and Green are near untouchable when it comes to trades, Andrew Wiggins most definitely is not. He had a fine season where he blossomed on defense and was more than handy on offense. His large salary could be used to counterbalance the potentially high salary of an incoming star in a trade.
Jordan Poole had an impressive run towards the end of the season, but if including him in a trade package would help land another star, then the Warriors should. The same goes for Eric Paschall.
Wiseman, Paschall and Poole are fine players, but they don't seem ready to help Curry in the immediate future.
The "trust the process" option
The Warriors also have the option of not looking to trade for another star and going into the season with what they have right now, plus Klay.
There are many arguments to be made for this approach. For starters, there aren't many foursomes one could name in the league that could match up to Curry, Klay, Green and Wiggins. The Warriors also have a very able young support group in Wiseman, Poole, Pascall and Juan Toscano. This facilitates a formidable 8 player rotation of players who are extremely capable.
The Dubs also have the Bird rights of Kelly Oubre Junior, which will enable them to go over the salary cap and re-sign the player (should both parties agree to a deal). Adding Kelly Oubre Jr. would make the Warriors 9 players deep and there will still be room to further develop the team in free agency with other cheap (salary-wise) rotation and backup players.
There is no doubt that the first option seems more exciting, but the second option, of not making a blockbuster trade and continuing to believe in the youth may be worth considering as well.
What the Warriors front office chooses to do, only time will tell. But Steph Curry's championship window isn't going to remain open forever and the Warriors need to make the most of it and give him the best opportunity to lead them to another Championship.