The 2016-17 NBA season is officially over, with the Golden State Warriors beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1. But now that it is, the Warriors and the Cavs join the other 28 teams in the offseason.
To help them out, let’s finish up our “offseason blueprint” series with the newly minted champions of the world.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
I’ve found myself spending the last few weeks on /NBA defending Kevin Durant. I can completely understand if you wish that he had stayed in Oklahoma City and built a title team organically. Or if you think him going to Golden State was an easy way to cheat the system.
That said, I don’t understand the idea that it diminishes what Kevin Durant can do on the basketball court. He’s clearly one of the top 3 players in the NBA right now. He was always one of the most efficient scorers of all-time, but now that he’s established himself as a defensive presence as well, I’ll go a step further: Prime Durant is one of the top 10 NBA players of all-time (in terms of peak performance.)
Now, for Durant to vault into the top 10 in terms of his career achievements, he’s going to have to keep playing well and keep winning. If he can, he’ll be in that discussion as well. Given that the media and casual fans usually center their “best ever” lists based on title rings, it’s easier to understand why Kevin Durant wanted this path with Golden State — he wants to put himself in that conversation.
You can fault Durant for surrounding himself with as much talent as possible — or LeBron James for that — but it doesn’t take away from their own talent and their skills, in my mind. Two of the best of all time, going head to head for the foreseeable future. Others may bemoan that, but I’m going to enjoy it.
As Durant pursues greatness, so do the Golden State Warriors. Here are my two cents (not that they need them) for how the team may be able to sustain this budding dynasty.
(1) Keep thinking one step ahead
The Warriors organization wasn’t gifted this championship team — they earned it based on their merit. They plucked up three under-drafted talents in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, and then signed them all to extensions that all turned out to be prudent below-market deals. Those decisions gave them enough cap room to pull off the big home run with Kevin Durant. All the more power to them.
I also like what GM Bob Myers and company have been doing with the edges of the roster. While title contenders like Cleveland (or the Clippers) sell off their picks to “win now,” the Warriors continue to develop young talent at the bottom of their roster, which should help them in the long-term.
With that in mind, I’d encourage the Warriors to think about developing their next coach.
Like most NBA fans (even Warriors haters), I love Steve Kerr. He’s clearly soaked up the best of his own great coaches Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Like Pop, he’s a forward thinker in terms of the game and where it’s headed. Like Phil Jackson, he’s been able to manage a boatload of stars, some more difficult than others. Best of all, he manages to do that with humor and humility.
The only question with Kerr is: his health. The man seemed in pain this season, which concerns me as he continues the grind of year after year in the NBA. Hopefully, Kerr will continue as long as he can.
However, if Kerr feels like he can’t continue as coach (even if this happens in 2019 or 2020), it may help the Warriors to develop a long-term plan behind him. Assistants Ron Adams and Mike Brown are respected, but don’t have much “upside” (if coaches have such a thing) as head coaching prospects.
The man that I’d look to in order to fill that role would be current assistant Jarron Collins. Best known as the twin brother of openly gay Jason, Jarron is a rising star in his own right. He went to one of the top high schools in the U.S. and then Stanford, before continuing his education on the Golden State staff. Still only 38, Collins will certainly develop into a head coach one day.
Why can’t that be with Golden State? We rarely think of “developing” coaches in the same way you do players, but the Warriors should consider it. Collins probably isn’t ready for a full-time gig right now, but if the Warriors can continue to spoon-feed him more and more responsibility, have him run some practices, and even call some games here and there, they can start to look at him as the heir apparent to Kerr, whenever that may be.
(2) Pay your stars whatever they want…
Steph Curry and Kevin Durant can both opt out of their contracts and become free agents this summer. By all reports, they should be amenable to extensions — after all, why wouldn’t they?
Things may become trickier next summer, when Klay Thompson’s deal expires. Draymond Green’s contract ends the following summer. Given their potential All-NBA honors, the Warriors could be looking at dishing out FOUR “super” maxs in the next three summers alone. They may be setting new kinds of records — for luxury tax payments.
And they shouldn’t think twice about it. The Warriors ownership should realize that they have captured lightning in a bottle here, and shouldn’t let it go. With a new arena on the horizon in a rich market, the team shouldn’t worry about paying upwards of $150, $160, even $200 million dollars a year in order to keep this core.
This summer, I’d tell Steph Curry and Kevin Durant that they can have as much money as they want, in whatever fashion they want. However, I would stop short of handing over the franchise to them, in terms of decisions regarding the OTHER players on the team.
(3) But not their friends, too.
Presumably, Curry and Durant will push for the team to re-sign their beloved teammates like Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston (both free agents themselves.) I’d certainly try to keep those two, but there’s a decent chance other teams will bowl them over with bloated offers, trying to capture some of that Warriors’ magic, or maybe trying to harm Golden State however possible.
The Warriors need to keep their core four, but make sure they don’t let their stars hijack the franchise with that type of decision making. The team needs to draw hard lines in the sand about every other player on the roster.
With that in mind, let’s examine all the decisions they’ll have to make:
GUARD. Backups Livingston and Ian Clark are expiring this summer, which could leave the team thin if they don’t retain at least one. I’m intrigued by Clark’s potential as a sixth man scorer, but it’s hard to claim that’s a big “need” for this particular club. Livingston, on the other hand, excels because of his defensive versatility and his ability to cover 1 through 3. If possible, he’d be the backup guard that I’d try to retain.
That said, I wouldn’t match a ridiculous offer for Livingston. He’s only 31, so he may indeed get that on the open market. If some team wants to offer Livingston 3 or 4 years at $10+ million, then the Warriors need to be prepared to let him go and deal with the consequences.
FORWARD. Take what I said about Livingston and multiply it by five for Andre Iguodala, another free agent. He’s a HUGELY valuable piece for this team, given his defense versatility and ability to guard against their primary rival, LeBron James. In an ideal world, you’d re-sign Iguodala for about 2 years, after which you hope that rookie Patrick McCaw is ready to take over that role full-time.
Of course, there are two problems with that. As mentioned, Iguodala’s a free agent now, and McCaw (as a second round pick) is a free agent next summer. Chances are, you’re not getting either back at a bargain. I’d try very hard to convince Iguodala to stay — but I’d front-load that contract to do it. $15 million for the first year or two would be fine, since you’re not yet paying those fat extensions to all four of your superstars yet. If the Warriors risk paying that kind of money to Iguodala longer than that, they risk blowing up their cap in an unreasonable way. To me, giving the 33-year-old Iguodala a guaranteed 3 or 4 year contract is the type of short-sighted deal that would potentially blow up in your face. He’s too injury prone and too inconsistent of a shooter to risk past the age of 35.
So again, I’d try to re-sign Iguodala to a short contract, even if you have to overpay for the privilege. If the deal gets too long, then you let him go and deal with the consequences, which in this case may be trusting McCaw and Matt Barnes (a free agent, but presumably a cheap one) to pick the slack.
CENTER. What the hell, MORE free agents? Yep. Three more, in fact, with starter Zaza Pachulia, people’s champ JaVale McGee, and veteran David West. Unless all three come back at severe discounts, you’re going to lose at least 1.
Of the three, West is the one that I’d definitely re-sign, on the presumption that it’s for the minimum. West doesn’t have Pachulia’s size, but he’s a thick screen setter and tough guy who happens to have more skills in terms of his midrange game and passing ability. I wouldn’t be opposed to the Warriors bringing back West as their “starting” center (so long as that means 15-20 minutes a game.)
I’d try to retain either Pachulia or JaVale McGee as well (whoever comes cheaper), but if they both want to get rich elsewhere, I wouldn’t bend over backwards to keep them. Another reason I’m more comfortable risking that is the presence of the two young Warriors Kevon Looney and Damian Jones. Looney is a good rebounder for his size and has some shooting skill, while Jones has some shot-blocking potential. Hopefully, those two are ready to give you some (keyword: some) minutes at center next year as well, with the potential to develop into legitimate rotation players.
That “development” is key to this franchise, and a theme of this blueprint in general. This Warrior core can roll out of bed next year and possibly win the title. But if Golden State is going to win again, and again, and again, for as long as possible, they’ll need to keep thinking about sustainability and long-term development at every level, from the coaching position to the ends of the roster.
