NBA: Can the Warriors return to dynasty form?
With the Warriors season coming to a disappointing end, all questions now turn to next season's potential championship run. Golden State is expected to make major changes to their roster in the draft, free agency, and before the start of the regular season. Warriors’ general manager, Bob Myers, and ownership have to focus on re-signing superstar Stephen Curry to a max contract, bring in experienced veteran players to come off the bench, develop James Wiseman with the help of Kevin Garnett (and improve the rest of their young core), and either re-sign or replace Kelly Oubre.
This will be a tall task for Myers to accomplish, as he talked to reporters, in their end-of-season press conference. The Warriors are in a unique position this year, deciding whether to keep their young core or trade them for veterans and role players. All changes will be predicated on maximizing what’s left of Curry’s prime. So, the real question becomes, can the Warriors return to dynasty form led by Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green? The trio of stars won their first NBA championship back in 2015 behind 2-time league MVP Curry, fellow sharpshooter Thompson, and a Defensive Player of the Year in Green.
With Curry at 33-years-old, the Warriors have less than a five-year window to try to bring another championship to San Francisco. Assuming Curry stays and signs his contract extension, which could be worth as much as $215 million, this current Warriors team with a healthy Thompson could very well be in the Western Conference Finals next year. However, every year the West continues to get better, which means no team can stay intact, and expect to win a championship. The path to another championship starts with Golden State trading Andrew Wiggins.
Wiggins has two years left from the 5-year, $148 million contract he signed with the Minnesota in 2018. In the next two seasons, he is owed $31 and $33 million. The Warriors could use the $31 million Wiggins is owed next season, to bring in veterans and role players to improve the roster. Although Wiggins had career highs in assists (2.4) and shooting percentage (47.7), he is too inconsistent when it matters most. In the case of Oubre, being the sixth man off the bench seems to be his future role if he re-signs. In the ladder part of the season, he started to shine in that role, giving the Warriors valuable minutes off the bench.
Steve Kerr stated he would like Oubre back in San Francisco with that specific role in mind. The Warriors have a championship core intact but the key will be staying healthy and surrounding them with floor spacers, high IQ role players, and disciplined individuals that can learn a specific system. Oubre, Wiseman, and Wiggins all struggled to adapt to Curry’s off-ball movement at times. A full offseason of development and training, with Curry and the big three back, could result in the Warriors contending for another championship in 2021-22 but they have to take the necessary steps to do so.
Photo Credit: USA Today.
