Speaking of hard decisions and trade off scenarios... Since I'm sure the majority of peeps on here are rather a little invested in the success of our proud DubNation... What would you seriously be willing to give up as sacrifice to the Basketball Gods in order that we win Chip #5 whilst the core 3 are still playing? Would you give up coming back on to DNHQ ever again?!
I cannot leave this post without mentioning play-making and this had a lot to do with my choice of Poole over Wiggins. As someone mentioned here, we haven't had a legitimate back-up point guard since S-Dot. That's not good. The team production can't just fall off a cliff every time Curry sits. The Warriors want to have the highest Assist Avg in the league and you need play-makers to accomplish that. Also, players like Wiseman & Kuminga are going to need to be set up a lot, led with the perfect pass. Dray and Curry can't be the only play makers on the team. And this is the year I scream about our FO undervaluing play-makers. Of course, I will be appeased if they pick up Trevion Williams on a league deal or 2-way at the least. If not, I am going to be raising hell about our lack of play-makers all year. Ye have been warned Bob! My question is, who would you rather have. Poole and Moody or Wiggins and Brad Wannamaker? This is why I value Poole so highly.
Apologies if this was discussed elsewhere, but there was an article recently with a proposed trade of Wiggs for Barnes + Huerter + top-10 protected future pick... I find that pretty tempting, what do ya'll think?
I hope in the next collective bargaining between players and the NBA they add in something that allows players to be partially paid in equity. Given the value of the league and the savviness of many players (especially ours) it makes sense for players to participate in the overall upside. This can also defray some cash expenses. And in our case, it would likely totally solve our luxury tax issues. Both Joe and our top players understand the value & how to structure reasonable equity comp. Andre and Draymond talked about this on a podcast over the summer.
Thanks Eric. I hope folks enjoy it. The issue has me hog tied. Whatever answer you come up with sucks in its own way. But this is the life of a GM. It's like having eggs and toast and having to decide between potatoes or bacon.
Defense wins chips. Been thinking about how defense is the biggest question mark on the roster for next year. I thinks this is big for Wiggs.
Over the summer, we lost GP2, OPJ, Bjeli, JTA, possibly Iggy. A year older for Dray, so bearing less of the physical load each night, but hopefully can turn up in playoffs. Klay will hopefully step up, he looked close to full form in the playoffs, but it seems unlikely he should take the hardest, most physical wing assignments most nights.
Of the new guys, Donte seems maybe a slight plus on D, but no GP2. JMG seems a slight negative on D, even before comparing to OPJ, Bjeli, and JTA's surprising toughness. PBJ and Rollins are unknowns in NBA defense, and end of bench.
In light of that, Wiggins' defense looks a lot harder to lose. If Klay steps up to prior D levels and toughness, or Kuminga, Moody, Poole, or Wiseman take unlikely huge steps forward on D, only then can I imagine Myers lets Wiggs walk.
Seems more likely to me we get enough shooting from an aging Steph & Klay plus more diverse scoring from our new guys, and we let Poole's rising price tag walk. Few better ways to keep our D at champ level than keep the ultra-switchable, ironman Wiggs. I'm not just saying this because he's my mom's favorite Warrior, but it's a factor.
Looking forward to a certain beaming smile after he shuts down Ja, Doncic, and Middleton to win our next chip.
Anybody have ideas for how our defense will rise this year to last year's "historic greatness"? Or, for those who think Poole is likely over Wiggs, any ideas for likely free agents/trades who could replace Wiggs on D and at least patch up the void he'd leave on offense?
I have to think they'll be making these decisions in the coming offseason with the long term in mind. There's new CBA, new TV deal, new contracts for everybody except Steph & PBJ over the next 3 years, youngsters growing in their role, oldsters fading bit by bit... Lacob has said he'd pay to keep a champion together, whatever that means... Bob has said $400M is kind of a limit, but they've stayed below $350M thus far.
There's way too many moving parts to make sense of what's going to happen next offseason, so just enjoy this season and hope the team stays cohesive and doesn't fracture from competing interests...
As I said before on this topic, the thought of sacrificing any one of Green, Poole or Wiggins just to continue to overpay Klay Thompson, and be it just for one season, is nothing short of horrifying and if it comes to pass, it will eventually be the piece that starts the Warriors episode of Secret Base's "Collapse" series in some way. Plus it further begs the question why not even Curry gets a No-Trade Clause (even though when he signed his first 200m+ contract, he wanted one) when the team is unwilling to trade such contracts. I for one will pray for Threesus that either the FO sees sense or ownership finds hundred million dollars under a couch.
Great points all around, though I still hate this entire conversation.
My heart wants Lacob to keep the team together as long as the total balance sheet on each season is at least $1 into the black, but my mind knows this isn't entirely--or even remotely--realistic. I'm so glad I'm not Bob Meyers. I truly don't know how he does it.
I do hope Abaddon is right and Wigs keeps defending and rebounding like a savage the way he did in the playoffs. And I hope the reports of Kuminga having a lax work ethic are overblown, and that Poole is spending the entire off-season becoming a lockdown defender. Because ultimately, I am all about getting more reasons to eat celebratory ice cream.
Love the well thought out commeticle, but am also convinced that the Dubs will let the season play out and see where the chips fall, so we can probably safely un-wring the hands for a minute. A whole lot can change in a season, and directly after an epic championship run, where everything broke right for the team, seems like a poor time to start cutting people max contracts before they’re due. I’m on board for the possible universe wherein Poole is the second coming of Curry, but won’t be shocked if he’s the second coming of Jamal Crawford. One of those guys you lock up forever and ever, the other while a nice player, can be safely replaced with vet-mins(just not Brad Wanamaker). As for Wiggins, he may have been mayo on offense last year, but he was more like the bun on defense; you’d still eat the burger, but there’s way less substance, and a much bigger mess.
> Intangibles: Wiggins is a robot. He is an iron man. He is Steady Eddy. He is a great complimentary player. But that’s just it. You may be out of mayo, but you will still eat your burger. If you don’t have any meat, you’re not gonna slap some mayo on a burger bun and go to town. Condiments enhance the burger. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some mayo. But not that much. As great as he is, he will always be a complimentary piece, and being the only one on this list is what makes him the odd man out.
Wiggins averaged 39 minutes a game in the Finals, Poole averaged 21 minutes a game in the Finals. Who is the complementary piece and who is the foundational one?
Are the Warriors really going to let $ break up a championship team? They’ll figure it out if the team wins again. If they lose, we’ve probably seen the last of The Warriors for a while as they focus on the youth movement.
Speaking of hard decisions and trade off scenarios... Since I'm sure the majority of peeps on here are rather a little invested in the success of our proud DubNation... What would you seriously be willing to give up as sacrifice to the Basketball Gods in order that we win Chip #5 whilst the core 3 are still playing? Would you give up coming back on to DNHQ ever again?!
From most important to keep to most (gulp) expendable, ranked by a couple of my bodily organs:
Brain - Poole, Wiggins, Green, Thompson
Heart - Dray, Klay, JP, Wiggs
Eric, Daniel, Dubby. Someone send me a direct email. I have an event announcement (a possible DubNation event), but want to run it by y'all.
I cannot leave this post without mentioning play-making and this had a lot to do with my choice of Poole over Wiggins. As someone mentioned here, we haven't had a legitimate back-up point guard since S-Dot. That's not good. The team production can't just fall off a cliff every time Curry sits. The Warriors want to have the highest Assist Avg in the league and you need play-makers to accomplish that. Also, players like Wiseman & Kuminga are going to need to be set up a lot, led with the perfect pass. Dray and Curry can't be the only play makers on the team. And this is the year I scream about our FO undervaluing play-makers. Of course, I will be appeased if they pick up Trevion Williams on a league deal or 2-way at the least. If not, I am going to be raising hell about our lack of play-makers all year. Ye have been warned Bob! My question is, who would you rather have. Poole and Moody or Wiggins and Brad Wannamaker? This is why I value Poole so highly.
Apologies if this was discussed elsewhere, but there was an article recently with a proposed trade of Wiggs for Barnes + Huerter + top-10 protected future pick... I find that pretty tempting, what do ya'll think?
From an emotional makeup perspective Poole reminds me a lot more of Iguodala than Dray
I hope in the next collective bargaining between players and the NBA they add in something that allows players to be partially paid in equity. Given the value of the league and the savviness of many players (especially ours) it makes sense for players to participate in the overall upside. This can also defray some cash expenses. And in our case, it would likely totally solve our luxury tax issues. Both Joe and our top players understand the value & how to structure reasonable equity comp. Andre and Draymond talked about this on a podcast over the summer.
Thanks Eric. I hope folks enjoy it. The issue has me hog tied. Whatever answer you come up with sucks in its own way. But this is the life of a GM. It's like having eggs and toast and having to decide between potatoes or bacon.
Defense wins chips. Been thinking about how defense is the biggest question mark on the roster for next year. I thinks this is big for Wiggs.
Over the summer, we lost GP2, OPJ, Bjeli, JTA, possibly Iggy. A year older for Dray, so bearing less of the physical load each night, but hopefully can turn up in playoffs. Klay will hopefully step up, he looked close to full form in the playoffs, but it seems unlikely he should take the hardest, most physical wing assignments most nights.
Of the new guys, Donte seems maybe a slight plus on D, but no GP2. JMG seems a slight negative on D, even before comparing to OPJ, Bjeli, and JTA's surprising toughness. PBJ and Rollins are unknowns in NBA defense, and end of bench.
In light of that, Wiggins' defense looks a lot harder to lose. If Klay steps up to prior D levels and toughness, or Kuminga, Moody, Poole, or Wiseman take unlikely huge steps forward on D, only then can I imagine Myers lets Wiggs walk.
Seems more likely to me we get enough shooting from an aging Steph & Klay plus more diverse scoring from our new guys, and we let Poole's rising price tag walk. Few better ways to keep our D at champ level than keep the ultra-switchable, ironman Wiggs. I'm not just saying this because he's my mom's favorite Warrior, but it's a factor.
Looking forward to a certain beaming smile after he shuts down Ja, Doncic, and Middleton to win our next chip.
Anybody have ideas for how our defense will rise this year to last year's "historic greatness"? Or, for those who think Poole is likely over Wiggs, any ideas for likely free agents/trades who could replace Wiggs on D and at least patch up the void he'd leave on offense?
I have to think they'll be making these decisions in the coming offseason with the long term in mind. There's new CBA, new TV deal, new contracts for everybody except Steph & PBJ over the next 3 years, youngsters growing in their role, oldsters fading bit by bit... Lacob has said he'd pay to keep a champion together, whatever that means... Bob has said $400M is kind of a limit, but they've stayed below $350M thus far.
There's way too many moving parts to make sense of what's going to happen next offseason, so just enjoy this season and hope the team stays cohesive and doesn't fracture from competing interests...
As I said before on this topic, the thought of sacrificing any one of Green, Poole or Wiggins just to continue to overpay Klay Thompson, and be it just for one season, is nothing short of horrifying and if it comes to pass, it will eventually be the piece that starts the Warriors episode of Secret Base's "Collapse" series in some way. Plus it further begs the question why not even Curry gets a No-Trade Clause (even though when he signed his first 200m+ contract, he wanted one) when the team is unwilling to trade such contracts. I for one will pray for Threesus that either the FO sees sense or ownership finds hundred million dollars under a couch.
Great points all around, though I still hate this entire conversation.
My heart wants Lacob to keep the team together as long as the total balance sheet on each season is at least $1 into the black, but my mind knows this isn't entirely--or even remotely--realistic. I'm so glad I'm not Bob Meyers. I truly don't know how he does it.
I do hope Abaddon is right and Wigs keeps defending and rebounding like a savage the way he did in the playoffs. And I hope the reports of Kuminga having a lax work ethic are overblown, and that Poole is spending the entire off-season becoming a lockdown defender. Because ultimately, I am all about getting more reasons to eat celebratory ice cream.
Love the well thought out commeticle, but am also convinced that the Dubs will let the season play out and see where the chips fall, so we can probably safely un-wring the hands for a minute. A whole lot can change in a season, and directly after an epic championship run, where everything broke right for the team, seems like a poor time to start cutting people max contracts before they’re due. I’m on board for the possible universe wherein Poole is the second coming of Curry, but won’t be shocked if he’s the second coming of Jamal Crawford. One of those guys you lock up forever and ever, the other while a nice player, can be safely replaced with vet-mins(just not Brad Wanamaker). As for Wiggins, he may have been mayo on offense last year, but he was more like the bun on defense; you’d still eat the burger, but there’s way less substance, and a much bigger mess.
> Intangibles: Wiggins is a robot. He is an iron man. He is Steady Eddy. He is a great complimentary player. But that’s just it. You may be out of mayo, but you will still eat your burger. If you don’t have any meat, you’re not gonna slap some mayo on a burger bun and go to town. Condiments enhance the burger. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some mayo. But not that much. As great as he is, he will always be a complimentary piece, and being the only one on this list is what makes him the odd man out.
Wiggins averaged 39 minutes a game in the Finals, Poole averaged 21 minutes a game in the Finals. Who is the complementary piece and who is the foundational one?
Are the Warriors really going to let $ break up a championship team? They’ll figure it out if the team wins again. If they lose, we’ve probably seen the last of The Warriors for a while as they focus on the youth movement.
Look at Alas. First the Comment + Reply of the week. Now her or his own featured comment as an article.