Warriors pay a bigger price than imagined
SAN FRANCISCO — It felt a lot like salvation. The Golden State Warriors wouldn’t be losing Kevin Durant outright if they could work out a sign-andtrade arrangement as the free-agent market opened, bringing in some talent and softening the blow.
Now that it’s done, it just feels depressing.
Desperate to bring in a player who could step right into the starting lineup, the Warriors did a nice job landing D’Angelo Russell, a point guard who came into his own with Brooklyn last season and made the All-Star team (as a replacement for the injured Victor Oladipo).
Then the dominoes began to fall, until the cost was determined: Andre Iguodala, two first-round draft choices and the reality of being “hard-capped” for the rest of the season, meaning the team can only sign players under minimum-salary contracts. And the hard truth hit home: Management simply didn’t feel the team had a chance to win the 2019-20 championship.
Perhaps those hopes died the moment Klay Thompson tore up his knee in the NBA Finals, but now it’s official. As the Warriors proved time and again, you don’t win titles without one of the top defenses in the league. With Durant and Iguodala departed, Thompson sidelined at least until March and Russell hardly a “stopper” of any kind, the Warriors’ defensive edge is completely gone.
Bobby Marks, the ESPN analyst who specializes in salary-cap knowledge, predicted on the air Tuesday that “the Warriors will not make the playoffs.” It will be a matter of depth, he said, running down an uninspiring list of lowbudget types, and the Warriors took two steps in that regard Tuesday by acquiring free agents Willie Cauley-Stein and Glenn Robinson III.
It’s just that over a few short hours, the Warriors joined the ranks of the ordinary. Even Russell’s presence comes into question, not only because he’s a questionable backcourt fit with Stephen Curry, but the fact that Thompson’s return will be looming over Russell, applying a brand of pressure he doesn’t need — not to mention the grim likelihood of being traded a few months down the road.
So that’s the deal. The Warriors will regret losing those first-round draft picks, arriving right around the time the Big Three hits the twilight. They’ll miss Iguodala in a thousand ways. You get the feeling there won’t be much tension in the air when the Warriors play that first game at Chase Center, any such emotion overwhelmed by the inevitable surges of optimism and the grand spectacle of a new arena. Giving longevity to that “Golden State” brand, the one that left so many opponents searching for answers, will be quite the test.
Iguodala joins a Memphis team brimming with excitement over draft picks (point guard Ja Morant, forward Brandon Clarke) and Jaren Jackson Jr., who had a tremendous rookie year. His veteran’s touch would be invaluable in that setting. But Iguodala deserves a bigger stage as his career winds down. Could the Lakers work something out? I know it sounds disgusting to Warriors fans, but the drama!
Russell’s career seemed irrevocably tarnished in March of 2016 when, as a member of the Lakers, he secretly taped a conversation with Nick Young about his teammate’s infidelity. The video went public, Russell found himself frozen out by the team, and president Magic Johnson publicly questioned his leadership qualities after trading him to Brooklyn with Timofey Mozgov for Kyle Kuzma and Brook Lopez in June of 2017.
Russell rebounded spectacularly, in every way. “He’s better now,” Johnson recently told The Athletic, suggesting the Lakers would be interested in bringing him back. “He’s a different player. He’s more mature.”
Remarkable to think, though, that both Russell and Young now will be entries on the Warriors’ all-time roster.