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OAKLAND — The Warriors might have issues after losing three of their past four games. But none of that sparked enough concern for the Warriors to make any moves before the NBA trade deadline passed on Thursday at noon PT.
“It’s a little bit of a misnomer that when you don’t do something, the thought is, ‘You didn’t try,’” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said. “Nothing made sense. We still do like what we have quite a bit.”
The Warriors (41-13) enter Thursday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks (17-37) at Oracle Arena with the NBA’s best record after all. They also have a star-studded roster featuring Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Even after winning two NBA titles in the past three years, though, the Warriors are mindful of the need to upgrade their roster whenever possible.
The Warriors would like to add secondary scoring to a bench unit that ranks 20th out of 30 NBA teams in total offense (33.3) and 26th in 3-point shooting (33 percent), though Myers noted the Warriors managed just fine in recent seasons without such depth. The Warriors are also mindful of a crowded frontcourt that has often come at the expense of veteran center JaVale McGee. Yet, the Warriors wanted to preserve cap space and their 2018 first-round pick. While the Warriors currently have a $137 million payroll, the Warriors realize how valuable a first round pick could become in adding young talent to complement their roster.
“We felt it would take a lot to take that away,” Myers said of his first-round pick. “Because we are a high-salaried team, the draft is one of the few ways we can build and try to stay young if we can. For us, it may take on greater meaning. We’re not a cap space team. I don’t see that in our near future, either.”
In other words, the Warriors are not in the same position as the Cleveland Cavaliers despite both teams playing each other in three consecutive NBA Finals appearances. While the Warriors made zero deals, the Cavaliers made three.
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Cleveland traded starting point guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Channing Frye and a protected 2018 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance Jr. In a three-way deal with the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings, the Cavaliers acquired Rodney Hood (from Utah) and George Hill (from Sacramento), while dealing Iman Shumpert and a 2020 second-round pick (via the Miami Heat to Sacramento) and Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose (to Utah). The Cavaliers then dealt veteran guard Dwyane Wade to the Heat for a 2024 second-round pick.
Myers will still have a busy job in the upcoming weeks, though. Up through March 1, NBA teams will have a chance to pick up players on the free-agent market after negotiating buyouts. The Warriors could acquire any player on a minimum-value deal so long as they waive a player on their 15-man roster. Myers noted their chances at landing a player rests on varying sets of variables. Myers argued players often value varying priorities, including money, playing time or a chance to win an NBA championship.
Amid the Warriors’ quest to win another NBA title, Myers said he felt speechless when a Warriors fan asked him if he felt happy about not doing anything before the trade deadline.
“I don’t know. We’ll see at the end of the year if we were right or wrong,” Myers said. “I can’t sit here and proclaim we did anything right or wrong. I don’t know. It’s the same with free agency and the draft. The last day of the season is when we’ll be judged. Maybe we got it right. Maybe we didn’t.”
While Myers said the Warriors “were not that active” before the trade deadline, he also sensed that “we were never the lead horse in the race we had tacitly looked at.” Part of the reason? The Warriors kept asking themselves one question.
“‘Do we think this helps us in the playoffs?’” Myers recalled the front office saying. “Not that we devalue the regular season, but we are thankfully in a place where we’ll make the playoffs. That’s the time where you have to look and see if we have enough. But I can’t sit here and say what the proper outcome should have been today or not.”
The Warriors have achieved that proper outcome in recent seasons, a trend that has happened for reasons beyond the teams’s talent.
“We value continuity. But sometimes disruption is good. Sometimes it’s not. We’ve been good in having a pretty consistent group,” Myers said. “In basketball, I do value guys getting to know each other. Our coach values that. We put an emphasis on that and a priority on it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t explore or look at other things. But I think it helps with our familiarity with each other with our offense and defense.”
Myers has a position that often yields a different agenda than a head coach and player. Front offices try to win by planning ahead for the future. Coaches try to win by developing the roster they currently have. Players try to win by playing the game in front of them.
Yet, the Warriors appear to share the same perspective on the value of being content with what they have. After all, not every team has four NBA All-Stars.
“It didn’t surprise me. We didn’t anticipate doing anything,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We like our roster. I’m very happy with our group and I’m happy to go forward and try to go forward and try to get out of this funk we’re in and push ahead.”
The Warriors have partly ensured that continuity by abstaining from making any major moves before the trade deadline in recent seasons.
“It helps out a lot,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “The more you’re around somebody and the more you’re with somebody, the more you learn about them. You learn their tendencies and you learn their habits. I think that definitely helps.”
How so?
“It’s important because you maintain the chemistry in the locker room. That’s hard to quantify and hard to predict,” Kerr said. “So when you have good guys, you want to keep those good guys because you know what they’re about. It makes it easier for me. I’m not having to reteach the offense and for our staff to try to incorporate new players into what we are doing already. Of course it is much easier when you’ve got a core group like we do, a core group of All-Stars. They are the ones that represent that continuity and allow us to have a foundation and to sort of tinker on the edges. We’ve been very lucky to have that the last few years.”
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