Getty Draymond Green and Klay Thompson
The Golden State Warriors envisioned Stephen Curry‘s 15th season to be a redemption year following their second-round exit in the last playoffs. The league’s best shooter is still playing at an MVP level but unfortunately, his longtime partners Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are failing him.
Is it time to replace them with younger, more athletic running mates for Curry?
The Warriors continue to indicate they want to ride it out with their aging trio of stars.
“It must be reiterated, for starters, that the Warriors do not exactly appear to be one trade away from contention based on current form,” NBA insider Marc Stein wrote in his January 8 Substack newsletter. “There likewise continues to be zero indication that they would even explore trading franchise legends Klay Thompson or Draymond Green.”
Thompson’s inconsistent performances and Green’s volatile behavior are threatening to waste one of Curry’s remaining championship windows. Despite signs — the latest was a 133-118 shellacking at the hands of Toronto which pushed them 2 games below .500 — that their dynasty is ending, the Warriors refuse to waive the white flag.
Between now and the February 8 trade deadline, the Warriors have 14 games left to assess their roster. The 33-year-old Green will return to the lineup sometime this week or next week.
Their current depth softens the blow of Gary Payton II and Chris Paul‘s injuries that will keep them out until after the All-Star break. Yet even when the team was at full strength, there were questions about their ability to match up against the league’s heavyweights.
Ex-Warriors GM Bob Myers Joins NFL’s Commanders
Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers is taking his golden touch to the NFL.
The Washington Commanders hired Myers in an advisory role to assist them in searches for a new head of football operations and coach to replace Ron Rivera, according to the team’s official statement.
Myers, who currently works as an ESPN NBA analyst after leaving the Warriors, will join former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman in the advisory committee with Harris and limited partners Mitch Rales, Magic Johnson and David Blitzer.
A two-time NBA executive of the year, Myers pushed the Warriors by building relationships and identifying the right coach — Steve Kerr — that propelled their trio of stars enhanced by the arrival of Kevin Durant in 2016 to win four championships.
Draymond Green Talked Out of Retirement
In a revealing episode of his podcast “The Draymond Green Show,” the Warriors All-Star forward said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked him out of retirement.
“I told him, ‘Adam this is too much for me. … This is too much. It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire,’” Green said in the video clip obtained by ESPN. “And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.’
“We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”
The NBA lifted Green’s suspension on Saturday, January 6, but he will need more time to ramp up his physical conditioning after being away from the Warriors for 12 games. He returned to the Warriors bench in street clothes during Sunday’s 133-118 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Chase Center.