Win or lose this Game 7, a shake-up isn’t right move
They’ve already come out of the woodwork — chiming in, loudly, after the Warriors fell behind 3-2 to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals.
It’s the “break it up” chorus, and ahead of a Game 7 on Monday that — let’s be honest — could go either way, they’re gearing up to chime in again.
“Let Kevin Durant leave, he’s only taking shots away from Steph Curry.”
“Trade Draymond Green or Klay Thompson.”
Yes, to a vocal contingent of the Warriors’ fan base, even the possibility of the Warriors falling to the Rockets in this series is justification for a massive shake-up of this team.
The Warriors might have “bro-
ken the dam” on the offensive end in Game 6, but their early-game struggles should give fans pause heading into Game 7. Home-court advantage cannot be undervalued heading into a winnertake-all contest and if the Warriors fall behind by 17 due to turnovers, poor offensive flow, and hot Rockets shooting, they’ll be hard-pressed to turn that around and win, much less by 29, on the road.
And while it’s unlikely that Rockets’ star Chris Paul will play — if he does play, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be in any way effective — the Rockets have the presumptive MVP in James Harden and role players who have proven multiple times in this series that they can rise to the occasion.
The Warriors might be the favorites — after all, it’ll be four All-Stars against one on Monday — but Game 7 is no gimme.
Of course, if the Warriors do win Monday, we won’t hear from these folks clamoring for change — our social media timelines, sports-talk radio phone lines, and water cooler break time will be safe from knee-jerking and reactionary tumult for at least a few days — but it’s better to be proactive than reactive with complicated subjects like the NBA salary cap and collective bargaining agreement.
Luckily, the truth of the matter is not complicated: Win or lose — like it or not — this Warriors’ core of Curry, Durant, Green, Thompson, and Andre Iguodala isn’t going to be broken up this offseason.
Because not only is it implausible that the Warriors would shake things up this offseason — even with a forward-thinking owner like Joe Lacob calling the shots — it would be downright bad business to make major moves at this juncture.
And the Warriors aren’t exactly known for doing
bad business deals these days, are they?
Maneuvering this summer would be extremely challenging for the Warriors because they had the highest payroll in the NBA this past season and are not estimated to have any salary cap space this offseason. That’s because they have most of their top players securely signed.
Stephen Curry signed the largest deal in NBA history last summer that will keep him in a Warriors uniform until 2022, Green, Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston both have two years remaining on their contracts after this season, and Thompson is entering the final year of his deal. Durant is likely to be a free agent this summer, but luckily, NBA rules allow for teams to re-sign their own players, even if they are already over the salary cap.
Durant is likely to sign a new four-year deal worth an estimated $160 million with Golden State, though he would delay signing long-term and agree to another one-year deal this summer.
Either way, Durant isn’t going anywhere.
So if the Warriors wanted to shake things up or augment this core this offseason, they’d have to do so via trade.
Thompson would be
the top candidate for that, given his soon-to-expire contract, but he’s made it abundantly clear that he has no interest in playing elsewhere and is reportedly keen to sign a teamfriendly contract extension this summer.
Green is another player it has been speculated could move — he has two years remaining on his contract — but how could the Warriors’ trade the “heartbeat” of their team and last year’s Defensive Player of the Year?
Iguodala has proven his worth this postseason — both through strong play and absence – and the Warriors signed him to a less-than-team-friendly three-year deal last summer. At least for a year, he’s not going anywhere, either. His is irreplaceable at the moment.
The Warriors’ roster will not be static yearover-year, though. Decisions will need to be made on soon-to-be free agents David West, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and Nick Young. The Warriors will also have to worry about losing Kevon Looney and Patrick McCaw as free agents.
Ultimately, though, the next Warriors team is going to look awfully similar to this one. We’ll find out Monday if that’s going to spark outrage, or relief.