Team eyes balance of success in both short, long term
Warriors general manager Bob Myers texted head coach Steve Kerr on Friday morning, acknowledging the difficulty of balancing developing young players and trying to win games during this playoff push.
“This is tough, man,” Myers recalled texting Kerr, with whom he led the Warriors to five straight Finals from 20142019. “This is hard but, in the same breath, we’ve seen the other side of the coin, too, with a roster that didn’t need much refining.”
This roster does need refining, as has been made apparent in the past two seasons. Thursday’s trade deadline marked another important juncture in a rebuild the Warriors hope will end next season when Klay Thompson returns from an
Achilles injury and rookie James Wiseman will be another year into his development.
The biggest decision at the trade deadline was a move that wasn’t made. Though they fielded several offers for guard Kelly Oubre Jr., the Warriors decided not to trade him despite the risk of him leaving as an unrestricted free agent after the season.
“We value him, too,” Myers said during his posttrade deadline news conference, “as evidenced by us not trading him.”
Time will tell if this was the right decision. If Oubre leaves for another team, the Warriors will have lost a talented 3-andD wing for nothing. Myers said he’s had conversations with Oubre’s agent about expectations next season, when Oubre (if he were to re-sign) would likely back up Thompson and forward Andrew Wiggins.
“I can do much more than come off the bench,” Oubre said Thursday.
One thing is clear: The Warriors don’t know what they or Oubre will do and will answer that question during the offseason.
“We like Kelly and we’d love to be able to see him in our future plans,” Myers said. “But that’s four or five, six months away. And we’ll see what happens.”
The deals the Warriors did make at the deadline will lead to more immediate decisions. By trading guard Brad Wanamaker and center Marquese Chriss, Golden State opened a pair of roster spots. Myers will peruse the buyout market or give those spots
to players already in the organization. Those decisions will be made in the next couple of weeks.
Among potential buyout candidates include forwards Otto Porter Jr., Darius Miller, James Ennis, Rodney Hood, James Johnson and Mo Harkless; centers Hassan Whiteside, Kelly Olynyk and Gorgui Dieng; and guards Avery Bradley, Austin Rivers and Jeff Teague. The bigger names, Andre Drummond and LaMarcus Aldridge, are reportedly zeroing in on destinations that don’t include San Francisco.
Beyond that, the Warriors could also use openings to sign current two-way contract players Juan ToscanoAnderson and Nico Mannion to long-term deals. The front office had conversations about bringing over impressive second-round pick Justinian Jessup from the NBL, but nothing is imminent.
Whatever they decide to do with those open roster spots, the organization will factor in the current playoff push and setting themselves up for next season. By not trading Oubre, the Warriors again decided to walk the tightrope of trying to win now and building for the future.
“Every deadline you have some kind of goal or vision, and I would say the easy answer would be it’s both short- and long-term success. That’s a hard balance to strike and that’s what we’re trying to strike.”
Here are a few more notes from Myers’ news conference:
• On if the Minnesota pick (top-three protected in 2021, unprotected in 2022) was shopped at the deadline: “That was asked about quite often (at the trade deadline). In the way it was asked, you see the value of it.Itwouldtakealottopart with something like that.”
• On Wiseman’s development: “Everybody has to run their own race. That means starts and stops, and ups and downs. There are a lot of things I’ve seen that I really like. There are some things he clearly needs to work on.”
• On Jordan Poole’s development: “It’s been nice. You like to see hard work pay off. You like stories like that. It’s a good story to tell. But I don’t think Jordan thinks he’s made it. He’s got more work to put in.”
• On Oubre’s remarks that he can do more than come off the bench: “I like what he said last night. He should want to start. That’s what we look for in players.”