The Golden State Warriors have reached the halfway point of the 2019-20 NBA season and done so in a very different way than most expected.
An injury to Stephen Curry and a slew of new, young faces have changed the scope of the season from the onset, quickly turning it from a hopeful postseason stint to setting their eyes on the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, which should prove pivotal to their potential regrouping next season.
With that in mind, here are 10 Clutch Points to look at for the rest of this season:
1. Trade SZN
Much like the four seasons in a calendar year, the Warriors will experience four different seasons in the upcoming few months, starting with the high possibility of a trade or even multiple ones in the next four weeks.
Golden State has been usually quiet around this time of the year for the past five seasons, with the roster mostly compiled in offseason, happy to add personnel from the buyout market. Yet this 2019-20 season marks a very different situation, with the Warriors bound to have a much different cast available once Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson find themselves fully healthy.
Talk of moving D'Angelo Russell is a waste of breath at this point, with the organization fully behind the move that brought him to Golden State in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant. The Warriors could still deal him if the right offer comes along, but it would have to be one that rocks their socks off and secures a path to winning in the near future.
Thompson is closing in on his 30th birthday next month and so is Draymond Green later in March. By the time the Warriors enter the 2020-21 season in October, they will no longer have the young run-and-gun team that shocked the league in 2014-15, but rather a cast of 30-year-olds leading the way.
Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III are two of the prime candidates to find a new home by the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Burks brings plug-and-play scoring off the bench and Robinson has proved he can be a solid marksman teams can use in their chase for playoff glory.
If the Warriors can get some sound draft compensation in return, they could be moved within the next four weeks, with not much to lose in this gap-year season.
2. Recovery SZN
While this can be a gruelingly long season for Draymond Green and D'Angelo Russell, it is a different type of trial for Klay Thompson (torn ACL) and Stephen Curry (broken left hand).
Curry is set to be re-evaluated at the start of February and Thompson could wait until after the All-Star break to get an update. Both have taken part in shooting drills at the practice facility, but have yet to engage in full practices, which will be the final step before either is given the green light to return to action.
The Warriors are in no rush to bring them back, as there is no immediate benefit nor the cynical desire to chase the playoffs at this stage of the season.
Even if Curry and/or Thompson return to action, expect the Warriors to heavily limit them the rest of the way, whether that is by a minute limitation or resting them in between games, only getting a handful of games to play together.
It's unclear if Thompson will even be made available to return this season, and if he does, it will likely be toward the end of the season a la Paul George circa 2014-15.
3. Tank SZN
Much like Winter, tank season is one of the coldest seasons of the year. The Warriors are an awful 9-32 through the first 41 games of this campaign, good for dead-last in the Western Conference and only a hair shy of being the worst team in the NBA, thanks to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Warriors will win more games in the second half than they did in the first, especially with Curry likely to return at some point — but don't expect them to do very much winning with a high lottery pick on the line.
Golden State could be looking at around 20 wins on the season, though going too far over that mark could put them in danger of missing out of a top-five selection altogether once the rest of the cellar-bound teams go full-on tank mode in the last month-and-change of the NBA season.
Curry will make limited appearances and play fewer minutes in games when he does play. Couple that with an inexperienced roster with much to learn over the next 41 games and the Warriors could be looking at their first top-five pick since Mike Dunleavy Jr. (No. 3 overall) in 2002.
4. Draft SZN
Assuming they fall among the top five selections in the NBA Draft Lottery, the Warriors face a strange proposition ahead of next season. Their two most-needed positions are a capable center and a strong wing that can shoot the ball.
As fate may have it, there is currently a shortage of those positions in a lottery littered with point guard talent. According to ESPN's latest mock draft, six of the first 10 potential picks play the point guard position. ESPN's Jonathan Givony has Illawarra Hawks point guard LaMelo Ball going third overall to the Warriors under those projections.
Ball is a 6-foot-7 creator with unmatched vision and playmaking ability, though many have criticized his unpredictability and reckless pace as a detriment. Most of the prime frontcourt talent lies in picks 10-15 where Auburn's Isaac Okoro and Washington's Jaden McDaniels are projected, along with Memphis' Precious Achiuwa.
The Warriors already have two elite backcourt players in Curry and Thompson, they added another one in D'Angelo Russell, who the team says they plan to keep. Adding yet another guard would flesh out a logjam, which would only be a counterproductive use of a high pick.
It will be interesting to see if a strong forward or a quality big man not named James Wiseman (projected No. 2) enters the picture in the coming months, otherwise, the Warriors would be wise to explore a potential trade that could land them a ready-made asset.
5. Develop-nation
If the Warriors have found any positive in this injury-marred season is their ability to develop their new and young players without having to pull them from the G League. The Warriors have been so decimated by injuries early on that the likes of Ky Bowman and Damion Lee were thrust into action right away.
Golden State has also found ample time for rookie forward Eric Paschall, a pleasant surprise, and rookie guard Jordan Poole, a work in progress. Alen Smailagic, who was bound to spend more time in Santa Cruz than with the 15-man roster this season, has been a true revelation, never shying away from making his mark in games.
The organization has also put some time on fifth-year center Willie Cauley-Stein, and his work with Draymond Green has started to show already, averaging a career-high 1.3 blocks, albeit doing it in a somewhat limited role.
6. Looned-out
The Warriors finally rewarded their unheralded big man Kevon Looney after two years of being in a one-year deal. Three years and $15 million did the trick, securing his full Bird rights and boding an amplified role this season. Yet none of that vision came to fruition, as Looney has been plagued with injuries to start the season and once again looks a shell of his potential.
He's averaging 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds through only 10 appearances in the first 41 games of the season, suffering from left abdominal soreness and a neuropathic hamstring condition he's been dealing with for years.
If the Warriors big man can't get right at some point, the team would be wise to start looking for frontcourt depth in trades or in the upcoming NBA Draft.
7. Spelly-armus
On the subject of frontcourt depth, the Warriors might have just come across their big man of the future in a young Omari Spellman. Golden State acquired him in a trade for Damian Jones, who the Warriors had grown tired of developing without many fruits to reap.
Bob Myers phoned his old pal Travis Schlenk, now the president of basketball operations for the Hawks, and pulled off the deal — one that has been positive for both teams.
Spellman lost 50 pounds since last season and now looks like a new man — spry, limber, and ready to catch and shoot. In a world without Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, it's Spellman who leads the way in 3-point shooting, making 43% of his shots from downtown.
The Warriors started Spellman over Cauley-Stein on Sunday against the Grizzlies, and he cashed in with a combo platter of 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal in 27 minutes. At a ripe 22 years of age, he might just be the starting center the Warriors have been looking for.
8. Lee-aison?
Damion Lee has been a pleasant surprise for the Warriors, if getting him to bite on another two-way contract wasn't one already. Golden State is set to reward that commitment and is reportedly in line to hammer out a three-year deal with the former Louisville and Drexel star.
The Warriors were high on him from the start, but his newfound ability to pull down boards and be willing to defend on the ball ultimately earned him the vote of confidence. At 27 years old, he can be the perfect liaison between a new wave of Warriors and the bona fide stars.
He's set to take a Shaun Livingston-type role as a player capable of playing both guard positions and occasionally make a cameo at small forward in extra-small lineups.
9. The Steve Kerr Feng Shui
Head coach Steve Kerr was asked to earn his contract extension in the most brutal of ways, going from five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals to coaching a team with very little experience and less talent. Yet Kerr has not only used this season to learn from his more experienced assistant Mike Brown and others in the coaching staff but to also get more in touch with the fundamentals of basketball and teach them daily.
Kerr hasn't abandoned his competitive fire or his will to win, but he's now approaching it in a very different way, even if he still gets the occasional technical foul or ejection for cussing out a ref.
Never change, Steve.
10. What awaits next season
This is perhaps the most infuriatingly wild part of this entire piece, as it comprises a multitude of factors that are too random to predict.
An Andre Iguodala reunion is possible this upcoming summer, as the 2015 Finals MVP has been spotted around his old stomping grounds after he was exiled by the Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors will be able to sign him for the veteran's minimum once the rest of his $17.2 million deal is either paid by a team willing to trade for him, or bought out by the Grizzlies. Soon to be 36 years old later this month, he is likely to want to cap his career with the team that made him a three-time NBA champion.
Some things to put on paper, though… the Warriors will make a trade, if not multiple. They're on sell-high mode and will make use of the few things that have gone right for them this season to set them up with assets for the next.
They could keep or trade their draft pick, according to where they land in the NBA Draft Lottery and where their target player is likely to be selected. If no feasible wing or big man is worth selecting with a top-five pick, rest assured that president Bob Myers and company will kick the tires on a trade that would land them a few spots down while securing a capable addition to the team.
This is a gap year for the Warriors and while the immediate view is grim at best, the horizon is plenty bright if they manage to tank well and make use of their first-rounder intelligently, whether it is by keeping it or trading it.
Follow Us
Subscribe