The mental reset happened at the end of the first round of the playoffs, and the Warriors are still reacting to it and still realigning themselves with the words Stephen Curry spoke and his Game 7 performance.
It was all about Curry shocking the Warriors with his tightness on the court and occasional bad body language in that tumultuous series of victories over the Kings. It was about giving them the best chance of beating the Lakers in the second round, which the Warriors have had six games. And it was also about the future.
Truly, Curry’s spirited speech to the team the day before Game 7 and the resulting victory in Gold 1 was at the same time the high point of last season and the start of the next. Want to understand why the Warriors traded Jordan Paul and both of their 2022 picks to a one-year contract with Chris Paul? Or why did they give a new four-year deal to Draymond Green? What might happen in the next few days or weeks? Go back to the end of the Kings series. That’s when the offseason started to happen.
And all we’ve seen from new general manager Mike Dunleavy and his staff is the result. It all goes back to the speech and the game 7.
It was very important that Curry could do this – the greatest player in franchise history is still the defining number for everything that works here. As long as it’s good, warriors will be good. As long as he’s in that locker room, it’s his locker room.
It was also important that Curry king To do this – there were issues that needed to be addressed, that had been pent up all season, that were temporarily fixed for Game 7…and need to be changed more permanently this season.
“It was unique, very unique,” Steve Kerr said of Curry’s speech on my podcast after the season. Like I said, this season was unique because of everything that happened so early in the season, because we didn’t really find our groove until the end of the season. Things were definitely loose at times, and so Steve knew he had to say something. He didn’t have to. Before, honestly, maybe back in my memory, but it wasn’t really a problem in the past.”
This isn’t about starting to rebuild, of course, because that won’t happen as long as Number 30 lives and shoots. And it’s not a restructuring into something completely new. This full set of moves is a reaffirmation of the old ways based on all the old traits and all the most important players. And the transition from others, which officially began in February, when the Warriors relinquished their multi-year tryout with 2020 James Wiseman No. 2 pick and replaced him with stalwart veteran Gary Payton No. 2.
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The Warriors stopped waiting for Wiseman. They understood that Poole’s season was turned upside down when he was punched by Draymond in training camp and gave Poole a $123 million deal shortly thereafter, but after watching Poole fade in the playoffs, the Warriors decided to let go of his contract.
Double the experience by adding 38-year-old Paul. They quadrupled on Draymond by skipping a three-year offer and giving him four years and $100 million. (Important note: By lowering his salary this year to $22.3 million from $27.5 million after he dropped out, the Warriors saved more money in this payroll cycle, including luxury tax penalties, than the $27.7 million they will owe him. 2026- 27 If he exercises his option for this season, that would bring the projected total salary commitment for 2023-24 to about $400 million).
Do you think there is a theme here?
“You can make an argument last year because in some ways we were very young,” Dunleavy said in his introduction last month.
Curry is signed through 2025-26. Draymond signed for another year more than that. Andrew Wiggins is signed for four more seasons (his fourth year is also a player option). Kevon Looney is signed through 2024-25. If Paul plays well this season, the Warriors could guarantee his $30 million contract for 2024-25 or they could flip him for a younger player with a big, long-term contract.
Klay Thompson and Kerr only have this year left on their respective deals, but the Warriors have plenty of long-term money available to Klay now that Poole has been traded. I suppose both sides will wait and see how Clay plays next season, especially in the playoffs, but I don’t imagine Clay or the Warriors have ever agonized over the idea of a final multi-year deal with a negotiable deduction from his $43.2 million salary. in the next season.
And sometime this summer, I expect Joe Lacob to approach Kerr and the two to sign an extension through 2025-26, which is the same length as Curry’s contract.
Another theme for this so far unofficial season: Kerr and Dunleavy definitely seem locked in. There’s no evidence that Kerr and Bob Myers differed much, but the philosophies of the Dunleavy staff seem to be laser-focused on finding men Kerr loves and plays. For example, Paul is, at this point in his career, an ideal keeper for Kerr’s backup and an occasional lead guard when Curry is off the ball.
Also, in the first round, Brandin Podziemski’s movement selection and off-the-ball passing, combined with his obvious shooting talent, all seem like a more immediate fit for Kerr’s system than either Poole or Patrick Baldwin Jr. Or even Jonathan Kuminga. And perhaps, as Draymond recently suggested, Paul could unleash Kuminga as a cutter and dunker in a second, augmented unit.
Meanwhile, the Warriors appear to be waiting for veteran big man Dario Charic to sort out his offers. If he signs with the Warriors on a minimal deal, he’s another perfect, experienced, and versatile player in the style of Kerr. This offseason is a commitment to Kerr. But more importantly, it’s of course a total commitment to the Curry era, to his coach, favorite teammate, backcourt mate and players he can fit into whatever that means.
What happens to the Warriors when Curry is no longer one of the top five players in the league and Draymond and Klay move on from their prime? Well, we know what’s going to happen. We saw it happen in Chicago after Michael Jordan’s exit, for the sake of a very appropriate comparison.
The Warriors thought they had a way out when they took No. 2 in 2020 and No. 7 (Kuminga) and No. 14 (Moses Moody) in 2021 and went with three highly talented teenagers with those picks. Then they took out two other teens, Baldwin and Ryan Rollins, in the first and second rounds last year. Of that group, only Kuminga and Moody remained on the Warriors roster and only Moody played important minutes in the Lakers’ series.
A bigger point we all missed in 2020 and 2021: It was always difficult to accommodate young, inexperienced players with Curry and Draymond into the Kerr system, and Carey and Draymond are in no hurry to step aside. There were a few who could have done so well alongside Curry and Draymond, no doubt. Orlando picked Franz Wagner after the Warriors took over Cumminga, and Wagner is on the way to stardom. Charlotte acquired LaMelo Ball after choosing Wiseman, and it’s very likely that Ball is an electric presence alongside Curry. But also: probably not.
The secondary players who perform best in this system are smart and effective role players who understand how to get out of Curry’s way, get the ball to him and take turns defending when and where Draymond tells them to. Who understands that this is not their show. (As always, Kevin Durant is his own exception. No other KD cards.) That would be GP2, Shaun Livingston and Otto Porter Jr. and David West, and many others. This will never be Weisman. Paul was just for bits and pieces. Looks like Modi could be one of those guys. Kuminga might be too, but it’s a coin flip.
Interestingly, some of the high draft picks were made with the thought that Draymond, in particular, might need a replacement now. Wiseman and Kuminga could have been singled out for that, in general. But while Draymond has tested the Warriors front office in many ways over the years, up until this past October and beyond, he also continues to play at a very high level.
So it wasn’t a shock when Kerr said two important things in the season finale. First, Draymond’s punch upset the Warriors’ emotional balance all season; And second, that the Warriors would not be in contention for the championship in 2023-24 if they lost it. It was a symbolic bridge from last season to this season, all in two statements, and I think Draymond knew exactly what Kerr was conveying.
Because Kerr is clearly attached to Curry and he will be the coach here for as long as Curry wants him to be. But Kerr is also connected to Draymond in a very practical way. Because this team needs Draymond. Because Curry plays better with Draymond. And because, despite the strikes and everything else Draymond got into, once there’s basketball to play, he’s always an essential part of this.
Which brings us to Kerr’s comments on Draymond’s podcast not long ago during the Denver and Miami finals, which caused some fanfare, and I don’t think Kerr and Draymond thought about the fuss.
Cue from Draymond to introduce the conversation: “Steve’s gems, OK? … nine-time champ. It’s no accident. … winners win, and you never forget that.”
When asked by Draymond about the Heat’s sudden success in the postseason, Kerr gushed about Miami players like Caleb Martin, Max Stross, and Gabe Vincent in a way that was jarring or unintentionally with some of the Warriors’ quarterbacks, who, after all, needed a letter from Curry to stop commenting. their heads when they haven’t played 25 minutes a match. And of course, there was a nod from Draymond throughout Kerr’s entire commentary.
“None of those guys in Miami sit there and say, ‘Well, I didn’t play,’ or ‘Man, they put so-and-so,’” Kerr said. “It’s all about just winning. And you know this from our sets that we’ve had, when you have a championship mentality, everyone gets bought, everyone’s just trying to win, nobody — nobody cares about any of that stuff. You don’t go into the locker room and say, “Well, I should have played more.” You just want to win. And that’s the beauty of finding that magic when you have a championship team, is that everyone is involved, and it makes coach decisions really simple. You just go with your gut, and go with whoever plays well.”
Kerr and Draymond have had their rocky moments together and they sure could go through a lot. But last season really could have been the end of that relationship, and instead, it seems like they’re closer now than ever.
The Warriors seem to be a lot clearer and calmer now. They are older and they are less deep than they were in the past. But they were going in a few different directions last season. They straightened that out. And they listened to Curry, who started this and will continue to do so for as long as they can.
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