In the 2018-19 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors were projected to win the NBA finals and go on a three-peat (at least most people felt this way). By having Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry leading the charge, no NBA team could stand a chance against the Warriors or so it seemed. At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green had an unfortunate altercation towards the end of a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. In this game, the Clippers were on top for the first three quarters and were looking like the clear winners of this game. The Warriors in the fourth quarter made an impressive comeback with 25 points to the Clippers 16, where they took the game to overtime. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Warriors had an opportunity to ice the game; however, Draymond Green ended up tripping and forcing the game to overtime where they would end up losing this game. This game was most likely lost due to the tensions between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. The Warriors were the more talented team and should have defeated the Clippers yet, the dispute between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green most likely cost them not just the game, but also losing Kevin Durant in free agency as he stated,
“That play happened. I was going to grab the rebound. He came and grabbed it. I’m thinking he’s just going to toss it to me, and we’re going to run up court, and I’m going to shoot the shot.
“Everybody knew that, and we all figured that would happen. And then when it didn’t, I was kind of shocked. And then I was just, “Whoa, Dray. Let me see that.” Like, “What you doing?” Then he turned it over. And I’m just so confused at that point, because he never, ever did nothing like that before. Everybody on the bench was confused, too. And then when we came back, I just heard him screaming. And I was like, “Hold up.” He’s usually screaming when he comes back to the bench. But what is he saying? Then, he started going off. And I’m just like – maybe it’s because I was f—ing p—ed that he didn’t give me the rock. Because I didn’t say nothing. It was just in my body language. I was just clapping and like, “F—.”
“Then, he started coming off the top with all of that stuff. And I’m just thinking, “Draymond is actually my friend, somebody I can call when I’m going through anything.” Like, “Yo, bro, come through.”
“Like, “Damn, bro, let’s hang out tonight.” And for him to say that type of s— to me just threw me for a loop. And I just started isolating myself after that, because I didn’t feel – they suspended Draymond. But it was just like they had to so it wouldn’t look bad to everybody else. And then nobody talked to me about it or really – we never really came to an agreement. We didn’t voice our opin – nobody as a whole – because it happened in front of the whole team, and nobody really talked about it. It was just swept under the rug. And to me, it was just like, we a family.
“We’re supposed – even if he said that, we can move past it. But let’s all talk about it. Let’s just say how we all felt about moment, because that was a huge moment in this whole dynasty. Don’t just sweep it under the rug because we want to win. That’s the reason why we’re not going to win. So, I was just like, “Let’s all talk about this.” It’s not that big of a deal. Just put it out on the table. We can move past it. And when that didn’t happen, I was just like “F— it. Let me just hoop and worry about myself.”
“We done won two chips together, it’s bigger than – this some s— we can sit down and talk about.
“Me and him sat down and talked about it, and we kind of, I gave him my piece on it. He told me how he felt on it. But it happened in front of the whole team. So, everybody got to talk about it.”
(To read more about why Kevin Durant left the Warriors, hit the icon above).
The reason why all of this is relevant to the future of the Warriors is that Draymond Green most likely prevented Kevin Durant not only to re-sign but also because tensions in the locker room during that time as everyone else heard the unfortunate dispute. Durant, if anything felt betrayed as he views Draymond Green as a friend yet when this happened, some might say the true colours of Draymond Green appeared. Even though both players made up and have moved on, this was a scar in their relationship. For Durant to deliver this news to the media was not surprising and was, if anything, bound to happen. As a result, the Warriors ended up losing the championship and experienced many devastating injuries, including Klay Thompson and his ACL tear and Kevon Looney with his collarbone injury. The Warriors lost the series, their best players, and was looked at as a team about to face the brink of collapsing.
At the start of the 2019-20 season, the Warriors had D’Angelo Russell, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green as their big 3. No one ever saw this team as a title contender, however, with the contributions and elite presence of Stephen Curry, everyone viewed this team as a playoff team with a chance of making it as far as the second round of the playoffs. The Warriors had a slow start this season and eventually suffered their biggest blow yet by losing Stephen Curry for mostly the entire season. The Warriors in panic start evaluating what they need to do this season and concluded that trading away D’Angelo Russell and tanking for a lottery pick would be their best option. Even though no one can confirm that this was the direction the Warriors wanted to go with, past actions such as, trading away D’Angelo Russell, Alec Burks, and Glen Robinson lll who were all crucial to the team’s success and having 40 or more rotational changes instead of having a stable starting 5 suggests that this was the route they wanted to go with. Looking at the present day, the season is potentially going to be cancelled until further notice due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which begs the question, what does the future look like for this Warriors team?
With the Warriors being a lottery team this year while also having the worst record in the NBA, there is a high probability that the Warriors will have the first pick in this year’s draft, but that could be a stretch considering that last year the New Orleans Pelicans miraculously attained the first pick when they were projected to get the ninth pick. However, chances are that the Warriors will most likely get a top-three pick in this year’s draft where they will look to most likely trade it away. The reason why I think this is due to, the Warriors core still being in their primes and have a lot more to offer. The unique thing about Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry is that their play style could last eons solely due to how much they rely on their shooting. Stephen Curry is more versatile as he can play make and cross you up in any given night, yet his three-point shooting is what makes him stand out the most. When you think of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the first thing that will pop-up in your head is, the Splash Brothers. With all that being said, I believe that the Warriors would go after a third star ideally a center that can take care of the paint in case Draymond Green gets fouled out or injured. Reality is, Draymond Green is the only defensive big man on the Warriors and has had a lot of pressure to sustain that role and has exceeded expectations by winning a defensive player of the year award. The Warriors have enough shooting and would need a center to go up against the giants of the NBA, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic and so on. Although I do understand that the Warriors have been successful with a small ball lineup and won numerous championships running that lineup, the NBA is getting quite literally bigger, considering when you look at some of the upcoming talents, the NBA will have. The Center position is slowly rising up as almost every team has an above-average center while 18 teams have an elite center. With that being said, the Warriors would most likely trade away the pick as they are not interested in attaining James Wiseman, who is the best big man in this year’s draft. However, who would the Warriors be interested in trading for?
Before the Golden State Warriors foolishly traded away D’Angelo Russell for virtually nothing that can help them win now, I honestly felt that the Warriors would have gone after Karl Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now I do understand that this is incredibly bold; however, it makes sense once you dissect what the Timberwolves situation was all about. Before the D’Angelo Russell trade, Karl Anthony Towns wasn’t very pleased with the direction the Timberwolves were going with. With the organization failing to either bring any real talent or keeping your star player happy (Jimmy Butler), the Timberwolves rebuild exploded in front of their eyes. Karl Anthony Towns could only handle so much, hence why I felt that he would eventually request a trade where the Warriors would swoop in and shake the NBA once more. Now cap space is a factor which is why I believe that the Warriors would most likely trade away, either D’Angelo Russell or Draymond Green, Eric Paschall, this year’s first-round pick, and a few more future draft picks. This trade would have a deadly trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Karl Anthony Towns, that can shoot the three anywhere on the court and would form the greatest shooting team in the NBA. However, none of this will ever happen because the Warriors rushed a trade that they didn’t need to do. When further examining the Warriors situation, trading away D’Angelo Russell so quickly was foolish and confusing considering what they got in return and what they could have got for him. D’Angelo Russell is one of the best young guards in the NBA, whereas Andrew Wiggins is, at best, an above-average role player who is extremely overpaid. The Timberwolves should be accused of theft considering how easy they swindled the Warriors in making this trade. With Andrew Wiggins now being a trade asset with their lottery draft pick, the next best player that the Warriors could go after is Joel Embiid or Nikola Vucevic as both players need a new scenery to contend for a title. Although the 76ers are a good team, they have major flaws such as, spacing the floor and a lacklustre roster that prevents them from being elite. Ben Simmons should be the main focal point of this team simply because he can remain healthy while also being the perfect play-making, athletic specimen that he is. Even though Joel Embiid is the best player on the 76ers, Ben Simmons should be the future of this team and should also be the 76ers main building block for many years to come. The Warriors could trade away Draymond Green and their lottery pick this season, however, is that enough for a player like Joel Embiid?
When it comes to Nikola Vucevic, he would provide elite shooting for the Warriors. Even though Vucevic only averaged 32% from the three-point range, he is still a reliable player to have and would shine in the Warriors offence. Although Vucevic would lack the defensive capability of Joel Embiid, his scoring ability would outweigh his defence. Vucevic is a perfect complement to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and would instantly be a title contender in the Western Conference.
In the end, the Warriors have to make a decision on what direction they want to go with. They can either draft a player and look to the future while also making playoffs or, they can trade their lottery pick to form another super team that could make them instant title contenders. Both ways, the Warriors, would remain elite regardless of what happens as they still have their big 3 of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Even though this trio did win a championship in 2015 against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NBA is getting stronger and more competitive hence why I believe that the Warriors need to make a move now before its too late. Drafting a player like Anthony Edwards or Lemelo Ball would be ideal if the Warriors were a lottery team for many years to come; however, having Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is automatically a playoff team, and some might argue, a title contender. If the Warriors want to take their team to the next tier, the best thing that they can do is trade away their draft pick in hopes of attaining a third all-star caliber player to solidify themselves as legit contenders. With teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers being the face of the western conference, the Warriors need to make changes if they want to be the faces of the NBA once again.
