San Francisco – The Warriors endured one of the hardest seasons they’ve faced in years. It was tumultuous anchored with death, injuries, and suspensions. After last night’s 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament, Golden State’s season ended early and it’s probably for the best. The goal every year is to win a championship but this season, it wasn’t in the stars for the veteran championship team.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr created up to 30 lineup changes which made it difficult to establish chemistry. Draymond Green’s 12-game suspension for hitting Phoenix Suns Center Jusuf Nurkic disrupted the flow of the team’s offense in December. The loss of Assistant Coach Dejan “Deki” Milojevic was tough to handle. And leading scorer Stephen Curry’s 108 turnovers this season was hard to watch.
Then there was Klay Thompson’s rollercoaster year that included being benched for his poor performance. Only to return to the starting lineup to go scoreless in the loss to the Kings in the most important game of the year. Thompson was in the best shape of his career; he played in 77 games this season. Thompson becomes a free agent this year and wants to remain in Bay Area, but many fans think this may be his last year as a Warrior.
General Manager Mike Dunleavy has his work cut out for the offseason. The biggest problem is not Thompson’s contract, the most important move this team needs to make is adding a veteran big man to the lineup. Kevon Looney has fallen from the starting lineup to coming off the bench. Rookies Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandon Podziemski got a lot of playing time, but Davis is just not developed enough to be the main center.
The core three of Curry, Green and Thompson can remain, the moving pieces around them must be carefully evaluated. Last year the only big trade was Chris Paul for Jordan Poole, this year more movement needs to happen, or else this team’s dynasty is done. Reoccurring injuries to Payton II was tough, he’s another key piece to the defense. Andrew Wiggins time off for the past few years for personal reasons was also another blow. Dunleavy should add some new pieces around the core three with Thompson coming off the bench. Dunleavy’s actions over the offseason will determine if the Warriors can return to championship form.
General Manager Mike Dunleavy and Head Coach Steve Kerr give their thoughts on the season:
Players exit interviews:
Photo by GSW/Twitter
