The player development effort that the Warriors launched four years ago didn’t offer much help in Game 6, leaving them in a must-win situation Sunday in Sacramento, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.
Thompson notes that Golden State has already given up on the two-timeline plan that was supposed to enable the team to remain title contenders without heavy minutes from the veteran core. He adds that seven veterans are likely to see the bulk of the playing time on Sunday, but the team could use a contribution from at least one of its young players.
Thompson points to a decision the Warriors made to focus on young talent after losing in the 2019 NBA Finals. They’ve had five first-round picks since then — and 11 draft choices overall — and they’ve hired five coaches to handle player development, but the payoff wasn’t there when they needed it most. Thompson notes that Jordan Poole had a terrible game on Friday, Gary Payton II played less than 11 minutes and Jonathan Kuminga was barely used at all. James Wiseman, the other hoped-for gem of the development program, was traded to the Pistons in February.
The Warriors’ offseason moves haven’t worked out either, Thompson adds, creating the need for a young player or two to step up. He states that Donte DiVincenzo hasn’t matched his regular season production in the playoffs, JaMychal Green doesn’t have a rotation role and coach Steve Kerr doesn’t seem to trust Anthony Lamb, whose two-way contract was converted to a standard deal so he could be playoff-eligible.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Warriors forward Draymond Green often finds himself cast as an antagonist, but it’s not a role he seeks out, per Ron Kroichick of The San Francisco Chronicle. “I just be myself,” he said after Game 5. “I don’t go chasing after some villain title. Being the villain is no fun, it’s not enjoyable. But I’m also never ducking any smoke, whether that’s with a player or a fan or a fan base.”
- Kings center Domantas Sabonis doesn’t expect to be hampered by a left eye injury he suffered when he was hit by Kevon Looney during a jump ball on Friday night. Sabonis displayed the damage during a session with reporters at Saturday’s practice (video link from James Ham of ESPN 1320). He said there’s no damage to the orbital bone, but there’s not a treatment that can improve the eye before Sunday’s game.
- Following their first-round playoff exit, the Clippers have to decide whether they want to shake up their roster again just months after trading Reggie Jackson, John Wall and Luke Kennard, notes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register.
The comparison method can identify the reasons for the management failure of Golden State Warriors this season (again, this season)
Trade Deadline
Lakers traded “legend” Westbrook for GLo, Vanderbilt and acquired 7 players who are younger than age 27
Warriors traded away Wiseman
Sillivan, you make the age-old common mistake of “glass half empty.” The Warriors brought in Gary Payton.
You’re like the headline in the Russian newspaper 1962 regarding a fictitious sprint between two top athletes from both Russia and the United states. The US Runner won but the headline in Russia was this…
“Russian runner comes in second in big race !! American finishes next to last.”
Be interesting to see what Draymond does this offseason. He has. 27.5 mil player option but he has had a rocky season. First the dust up with Poole, then the poor road record all heat and in the playoffs most recently he’s been coming off the bench.
At 33 it’s a tough decision to make. Should he exercise his option, as a free agent at 34 of another year of poor production I don’t think he has to many suitors let alone good money on offer. Plus next offseason has a much more loaded FA class.
Should he opt out, he could possibly secure himself a good 2 or 3 year deal still.
15mil a season for 3 years equates to 45 mil total, should he take his player option of 27.5, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him then end up with a pair of bet min deals to end his career. I doubt he gets close to 2 years 20mil at 34…
Should money not be the deciding factor then I could see him still wanting to play for the Lakers with his good mate LeBron James. I could see him returning home to Detroit, Michigan. I could see him possibly ring chasing with the Celtics, or even looking for a challenge like Miami where he could be the piece to take them that step further.
GSW have kinda shown they are don’t necessarily need him anymore too. He’s been dropped to the bench and that’s still without Kuminga getting much of a role. If Dray were to leave expect Kuminga to thrive offensively in a much faster up and down style offence. GSW could definitely do with a smaller tax bill for a change too.
It’ll be interesting …
My prediction…
He has a tantrum on his podcast because no team offers anything near what he thinks he’s worth…
A week later he’ll sign what the Warriors are willing to offer and say he took a discount for the Warriors…
Yup. He won’t receive an offer that exceeds his option unless it’s for 3 years. He should take his option and be lucky to get a min contact the following season.
He ain’t getting more than his option… period…
If PJ Tucker can get a 3 year $30 million contract as he did last offseason, I think it is quite likely that Draymond can get 3 for 45. It only takes one team to think he is the piece they need to put them over the top and be willing to overpay on the back end. Given how evenly matched the top half of the league is right now, I think there will be a number of teams that will be tempted.
Issue is that none of the teams that may value him don’t have Cap Space, and the Warriors won’t facilitate a sign and trade.
Draymond know he wont get max contract. He’s seeking 4 yr contract. He will get no less than $100m in the open mkt. Warriors might try to backload his contract…. There was no justification whatsoever when he punched Poole. I wanted him out asap, but I must admit that he has been a model player this yr and played very well.
If GSW wins tomorrow we will have a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 seed move on from both conferences combined
Has to be a first
That would be cool
Wonder if anybody would be willing to give up anything of value for Poole?
I’m thinking he is still held in high regard around the league for his creativity, handles, scoring ability, long distance shooting, and youth. He’s not a washout (yet.)
Warriors did the same with D’Angelo russell. They keep a big money slot available in trade for another big money slot guy perhaps at a different position of need at the time they would dare make such a move. I think Poole still has tremendous value around the league and perhaps even with the Warriors if he gets his s-yit together today !! LOL
Poole is Meyers guy so unless Meyers leaves I don’t see Poole going any where. Reason Meyers signed him to a big extension because Meyer loves the praise like he was the one that drafted him.
Uh, long range shooting? He’s a just under 34% lifetime shooter from three, and he shot 33.5% this year.
Handles? His 4.5 assists a game were overshadowed by his 3.1 turnovers a game. A little under 1.5/1 assist to turnover ratio is not good as a primary ball handler.
He is young, and has upside, but at his salary, I don’t see many teams being interested.
I agree Greg I guess he’s just shown flashes of potential in those areas. But he’s definitely not performing as a 30 million a year player right now. But I think the value is still there because teams May feel he will improve in these areas enough to trade for him. Yes I think that there are teams out there who feel that way. But yeah Greg I agree with what you’re saying.
He’d be a lot better away from Draymond…
I wish the Refs would call Sabonis when he pushes with his Shoulder and moves his feet with the Sabonis shuffle. that is a travel to move 5 feet without dribbling the ball.
@ARC 2
Scott Foster today, who usually disses the Warriors. I guess we’ll see
Crap !!!! Seriously ???
Well there’s always next year…
Great win! Now let’s get rid of the LeLakers!
Scott Foster is not that bad. Its a big televised game so the Refs will be calling a lot of fouls.
GSW’s two timeline (really two roster) approach was born of not understanding NBA player development. Odd, as the organization did such a good job of it when creating the core of their championship teams. Of course, Jerry West was making decisions then. Curry, Thompson and Green didn’t have development coaches, and weren’t handed minutes, roles or even set positions. They certainly didn’t have their own timeline. They had to earn their minutes/roles/positions based on being able to produce wins in them better than the alternatives. Somehow, they got by.
The “two timeline” narrative was a media creation. Every team has young (i.e. inexpensive) players on their bench. For the Warriors especially it is a way to minimize the luxury tax. Unplanned circumstances created the situation where the Warriors ended up with 3 lottery picks on their bench. People have put unrealistic expectations on those guys. You can not compare the situation or players of the 2011-2014 teams to the present situation.
The two timeline narrative came about when Warriors management went against the players wishes and decided not to trade all those draft picks recently for veteran studs. Management thought, and you know the story, draft these three young guys (plus Poole) and they’ll help ease the pain when the core retires.
Where they went wrong was thinking that these young guys would be all stars with some development just because they were drafted #2, #7, and #13.
The Warriors could not just trade draft picks for “veteran studs”. Because veteran studs have salaries that would not fit under the cap. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?
I think every poster on this website understands the salary cap at least to that degree. The money coming in has to be equaled by money going out. We don’t live under rocks.
So yes if the Warriors trade those draft picks for veterans studs they’d have to find a way to send an underperforming salary to pair with the pics. Thanks for pointing it out though I guess maybe some don’t understand that.
@Gary is correct. Media has nothing to do with it, and talking about fan expectations is off point. The bottom line is the 3 recent lottery picks they happened upon are NOT impacting the team’s depth chart per the FO’s vision that they (not the media or fans) expressed. Their “goal” reflected a 2k’ers’ view of player development (i.e., that it can be done outside of the crucible of real competition). A more realistic view would have led to a different use of those picks. One intended to improve the team within the existing window, and/or maybe extend the existing window (not open a separate one).
Maybe, as @Gary suggests, trade for one or more for veterans with the picks. I could see that or see staying in each of those drafts, to some degree, but looking for guys that could contribute right away in significant roles.
@DXC If you want to criticize Warriors management for how they handled those picks it should be for who they picked not that they used the picks. I wanted them to take Lamelo not Wiseman. As it turns out they should have taken Halliburton who they were rumored to be high on. The following year I had wanted them to take Franz Wagner and Trey Murphy who were considered close to NBA ready and instead they took Kuminga and Moody. For whatever reason they chose to go with less ready and arguably higher upside (I don’t think Moody has more upside than Murphy who is a better shooter and athlete than Moody)
Spinx, you make a good point here. They picked guys with huge upside instead of safer pics who could perform today. I think they had their eyes on Chris Duarte who was a little older and had a more refined game but Indiana took him one spot ahead so the Warriors settled on moody. I think they would have loved Franz Wagner too.
@Sphinxter – I wasn’t criticizing that they used the picks. Of course they did; trading for vets, trading down for more picks, etc. are uses of the picks too. Getting into talent evaluation is complicated, particular with things so proscribed at the top of the draft. I was criticizing (in fairer way, IMO) the way they used the picks, namely generically picking the “best available” (in their view, if not yours) when they were not in a generic situation. Listening to the FO speak on it, it was clear they used the picks as they did because of an underlying assumption that these 19 year olds could be developed as a type of JV squad, ready to take over when the current vet core started to graduate. The implication was that if they didn’t believe that, then they would have used the picks differently. Maybe that would have been a trade down to get one of the guys you liked better. Maybe more vet focused. Nobody knows. But the path they took was based on their own faulty theory, and that can be more objectively criticized.
Yes I agree DXC. Perhaps it was a mistake to draft High upside instead of lower ceiling sure things? The future will tell but so far 0-1 with James wiseman. Jordan Poole is on that slippery slope as well.., sure hope he turns it around quick. Jury’s still out on Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.