Western Notes: Warriors, Lakers, Mavs, Spurs

In the wake of the Warriors‘ Game 3 win over the Cavaliers, Cleveland may have to face the harsh reality that there will be no stopping Golden State for the next few years, writes Chris Mannix of The Vertical. As Mannix explains, there aren’t many obvious routes the Cavs can take to upgrade their roster, and the Warriors should have no trouble attracting ring-chasing veterans every year — this season, productive vets like David West and Zaza Pachulia were willing to take reduced salaries to join the Dubs.

Meanwhile, fans of rival teams may hope that the Warriors’ four core players get too expensive for the team to keep them all, but that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. Klay Thompson has been the star most frequently cited as the potential victim of a Warriors cap crunch, and acknowledged to Mannix that he has thought about one day being the face of another franchise. However, he added: “It’s just winning is so much fun.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

• In an interesting and informative Lakers notebook for Bleacher Report, Eric Pincus outlines the team’s best route to landing Paul George and lists all the draft prospects that have met with and worked out for the Lakers within the past few weeks.
• Speaking of Lakers pre-draft workouts, De’Aaron Fox‘s meeting with the team is scheduled to take place on June 13, league sources tells Mark Medina of InsideSoCal.com. Lonzo Ball is considered the odds-on favorite to be drafted second overall by Los Angeles, but Fox remains in the mix.
• Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News identifies five realistic free agent targets for the Mavericks, including three notable point guards.
• Utah’s Kyle Kuzma and BYU’s Eric Mika are among the prospects who have worked out for the Spurs this week, as Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News tweets. Kuzma, ranked as this year’s 42nd-best prospect by DraftExpress, could be a target for San Antonio with the No. 29 overall pick — or at No. 59, if he falls.