One of the most surprising teams thus far in the 2023-24 NBA season has been the Golden State Warriors. 21 games into it, the Warriors are under .500 with a 10-11 record. They are currently on the outside looking in of the NBA Play-In Tournament in 11th place in the Western Conference.
A five-game suspension for Draymond Green threw things out of whack in the early going, but this doesn’t feel or look like the Warriors teams of old. Stephen Curry remains a star, but the supporting cast seems to be missing something.
Klay Thompson has yet to get going, as there are talks of him being on the downside of his career and washed up. Even more concerning has been the performance of Andrew Wiggins, who is producing at a lesser clip than Thompson right now.
What can the Warriors to do get things back on track? Former NBA All-Star Paul Pierce believes the way for Golden State to remain a contender is to make a trade. He shared that opinion during a recent episode of Showtime’s “KG Certified” with Kevin Garnett, his former Boston Celtics teammate.
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“You got to make a trade,” Pierce told Garnett. “I still believe in Steph [Curry]. I believe in Draymond [Green], that you can still build around them if you get the right pieces, that they can win a championship. But you’ve got to make some moves. As currently constructed, [Golden State] is barely a playoff team.”
Pierce has confidence that Curry and Green can still be the centerpieces of a championship contender and bring another title to the Bay Area. But, to get the team to the level they believe capable of, a trade needs to be made to improve the supporting cast.
Obviously, that is easier said than done. Bob Myers is no longer running the front office as general manager, which left a lot of people wondering if their recent stretch of success would continue.
A big reason that the Warriors are in this predicament now, in the opinion of Pierce, is their own doing. Whiffing on moves in recent seasons, such as draft premium draft picks, as left Golden State in a quandary without a long-term plan of succession.
“Golden State, it’s on them, but it’s also on the players that they brought in. Like, think about this. What if [James] Wiseman had turned into what they needed him to turn into? Jordan Poole? [Jonathan] Kuminga and [Andrew] Wiggins? They were supposed to keep the dynasty going. But they didn’t pan out like [the Warriors] thought they would. Wiggins is supposed to be giving you what Klay [Thompson] is giving you now.”
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Imagine what the Warriors would look like had they selected Onyeka Okongwu, the next center off the board at No. 6 in the 2020 NBA Draft instead of James Wiseman, who they selected second. Or All-Star guards LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton, who went No. 3 and No. 12, respectively.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, with two lottery selections, they picked Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. Franz Wagner was selected the pick after Kuminga and a few picks after Moody, Alperen Sengun and Trey Murphy III went off the board.
The inability of the front office to find and develop young players has left the team in a tough spot. They attempted to toe the line of being all-in around their Big 3 while developing young talent, but things have not panned out as well as they had hoped.
If the Warriors want to win another title with Curry leading the way, they have to find a way to get him some more help. Things aren’t going to get any easier in the Western Conference, as the Memphis Grizzlies, one of the teams behind the Warriors, is getting Ja Morant back very soon.
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