For retired NBA player and Bay Area legend Gary Payton, the season of the Golden State Warriors is already lost even if it's just early in December.
At 5-22, the Dubs have the worst record in the NBA although not by much. Still, with their star backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson out for a while and forward Draymond Green shuffling in and out of the injured list as he is known to, the losses are expected to pile up in the competitive Western Conference. Hence, Payton suggests that the Warriors hang the white flag already, per NBC Sports' Running Plays Podcast.
“This year is gone,” Payton said on the latest “Runnin' Plays Podcast.” “I wouldn't bring Steph back. I wouldn't bring Klay back. … Draymond Green I would basically let him play every other game. Leave it up to him. What they are doing now is they are finding some diamonds in the rough. [Eric] Paschall is is a diamond in the rough. You didn't know he was going to be that good. You wouldn't even know he was that good if these guys were there because he wouldn't have had a chance.
And while the 51-year-old didn't specifically cite the T-word, it's quite obvious he's alluding to it by implying the Dubs are going to get a lottery talent.
“This you're going to be in the lottery. Go pick somebody. Go get you a good basketball player coming out of college and try to work it. You're going to come back because you are going to get these guys back. Looney's going to be healthy, you're going to have some pieces to work with. You're going to get back to who you are next year. You might not be a championship team but you are going to get back. Just ride it out.
Payton admits it's going to be difficult to deal with initially being used to winning but the payoff would be tremendous in the long run.
“You take it. You ride with it. The fans don't have nothing their yet. They are surviving, It's a lot of young kids that's playing hard,” Payton continued. “At the most, they'll win 17, 18 games and you call it a wash. You get all you guys back. You become that Golden State Warrior team again, with some new life, some young legs, with a good pick and then you ride it out from there.”
The advice certainly makes sense since the Warriors would need a gargantuan winning streak to get back in the mix, and perhaps it is already in motion they're just not upfront with it.
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