Warriors Front Office Contemplating Major Roster Shake-up? No duh.

Golden State short-handed again, and still short on answers

There’s a full dozen games remaining ahead of the trade deadline, and the Golden State Warriors are mired in the muck. Fresh off a disheartening loss to an extremely short-handed Memphis Grizzlies team, the Warriors are now headed into Utah to face a streaking Jazz team that has won six games in a row.

In the background (or maybe it’s the foreground at this point), Golden State finds themselves getting chruned through the rumor mill yet again. Yesterday afternoon Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the Warriors are assessing the team and may break up the current core model if they don’t think this team can win. With an NBA-high $226 million or so on the books, it’s no surprise that the front office is blinking at paying so much for a roster that is a stretch to reach the play-in tournament.

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GAME DETAILS

WHO: Golden State Warriors (18-22) at Utah Jazz (22-20)

WHEN: Wednesday, January 17th, 2024;

6pm PST

WATCH: NBCSBA

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Not a Woj bomb: Warriors considering all options, even the nuclear ones

Adrian Wojnarowski's recent revelation on NBA Today suggests the Golden State Warriors are at a crossroads, debating strategic moves to secure another championship. The looming decision involves potential trades, financial considerations, and a critical evaluation of loyalty to key players. As written by Reddit user u/UnbiasedNBAFan, this shouldn’t surprise anyone, given how expensive - and how bad - this current year’s roster is.

Adrian Wojnarowski just said this on "NBA Today" on ESPN. I'll upload the clip once it goes up on YouTube or Twitter, but he said he believes the Golden State Warriors front office is deciding whether or not the current roster can win a championship with one or two moves made on the trade market and, if not, he believes they will opt to making trades to avoid the second apron, avoid high tax penalties, and open up flexibility to make one more run with Stephen Curry later on (possibly next season).

He even said that their decision might come down to picking which of the three dynasty players (Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson) they like the least and then trading that one for any assets possible.

He also added that the current team is only what it is right now out of a loyalty to Stephen Curry and that talks about his loyalty to the franchise could possibly spark up as they approach the deadline and into the off-season.

If any sports core has earned the right to ride into the sunset, it’s these Warriors. A homegrown group that won, brought Kevin Durant onboard and won a bunch more, and then just for good measure they won it all again after Durant left.

But still… how many miracles? And how big will they have to be?

This roster is bloated with expensive, underperforming veterans, and a youth movement that has yet to launch - despite showing flashes of promise. On the other hand, this messy ansemble cast just won a championship that nobody saw coming. So deciding when to cut bait and go in a different direction is not an easy decision.

The problem is that there isn’t a problem. This team has a plethora of problems. Like Inspector Gadget’s hat and limbs after a big crash, there’s stuff shooting out in every direction right now. The core hasn’t been elite. The youth movement and roster add-ons are inadequate. Coaching decisions frustrating. Free agency a bit dry. And maybe most importantly, it’s all of these things at once contributing to a general entropy.

There’s a reason that players don’t tend to stay with one franchise for so long. The league has built in a bunch of negative feedback loops designed to make this hard. Golden State passed through a number of choke points successfully, but may finally be paying.

In particular, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins are proving to be heavy anchors. Both have improved a bit recently, but given the sizes of these contracts, being “ok” is actually not good enough - and these guys are far beyond okay.

If things were rosy, then this could be absorbed. If Kuminga was breaking out, or the rest of the roster was healthy and impactful, maybe we wouldn’t be here. But every empire dies, eventually. And we are here.

But is it really time to let go of the rope?

I’ve personally been proven wrong time and time again by this team. Sure, the drafting could have been better. But what aspect of life wouldn’t be if you could go back and do it all over again with full knowledge?

"We did win a championship, in case people forgot, a year and a half ago...I believe in my guys, I love those guys, and we're going to keep fighting."

- Steve Kerr when asked if he still believes this season is not a "Last Dance" for the Warriors

There’s two aspects to this question that are important.

First, can this team even play better? And if so, how much?

The Warriors haven’t looked like a playoff team (much less a champion) all season. Even their hot start was causing some squinted eyes. A pair of buzzer beaters that went their way. The one-point win over the Sacramento Kings and two-point victory over the OKC Thunder got the team off to a 6-2 start… followed by six straight losses.

There’s some promise here for sure. Moody and Kuminga can work. Curry will always be able to make shots, and if any other aspect of this squad could come together it would open up the world for him. But at the current salary structure, this has to be evaluated as a championship-only target.

And second, what’s the opportunity cost?

It’s always hard to assess potential value, but I think it’s safe to say that the Warriors have desirable players. Even assuming that Curry is untouchable, both Thompson and Green are expiring. Combining those two factors makes it clear that there should be deals out there for the Warriors. There’s not much time left here, and the winds of change are blowing pretty hard.

“Why mortgage the future to take a swing at the plate if it’s not even there?”

“There are no easy nights any more”

It doesn’t feel that close right now, and if the Warriors are going to do something crazy it feels more right to me than ever before.

Unless there’s a pretty enticing deal, I’d let it ride. I don’t know how much better this roster can get this season via trade - but I’ve learned that it’s definitely possible. There’s ups and downs but this core deserves a last dance if that’s what this is.

Also, as an old school Warriors fan, for the cycle to truly be complete, I think it might be cathartic to endure a good old fashioned salary dump. Go ahead and line your pockets. After all, debt is extremely expensive right now, and the Warriors are carrying a lot of it. Maybe the most suiting end to this whole ride is a sort of drag-my face-across-the-broken-glass dénouement.

Whatever happens, it will be a great time out.