Golden State Warriors: Week 12 Recap
As the NBA season draws to the mid-way point, the state of Warriors basketball has relied less on what they're doing on the court and more on everything they're doing off the court-- behind the scenes.
The Dubs went 0-4 this past week, with double-digit losses to the Kings and Memphis-- along with losses to the Bucks and Clippers. But eyes aren't batting, because the fanbase, front office, and coaching staff have come to a collective conclusion that this season is lost.
But that doesn't mean that there aren't big plays being made. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are resting, working out, and helping Kerr in the development of the current young group.
More importantly, in each game, a different player has stepped up and showcased attributes that can be beneficial to next year's playoff push. Even more so, they have showcased and built a resume that can come handy around the trade deadline.
As grim as it may sound, it's the reality of the business. Karl Anthony Towns and Blake Griffin are unhappily existing in their current cities, while the Dubs-- once Thompson and Curry return-- will need a third scoring option.
Can D'Angelo Russell be that piece? Possibly. He can run the point, with Curry at the two and Thompson at the three spot. But that creates a very small, non-defensive backcourt. And it also creates a small frontcourt no matter who you put at the five. Draymond Green is an undersized four, and Thompson is the perfect height for the two position, not the three.
Yes, the Warriors have created the trend of small ball, but that small ball had three out of the five in their correct positions-- and that was before Kevin Durant came. Once Durant came, positionless basketball felt unstoppable because of Durant's height. Being a 7-footer allowed small ball to work effortlessly because you still had length on the winning end-- and I'm not talking offense.
For the Dubs to have a championship-caliber year next season, they will have to find another scoring option, particularly down low to eliminate a potential defense hole. With that said, that doesn't mean D'Lo has to go. In a perfect world, the Warriors can acquire another star while keeping D'Lo-- giving Kerr a strength in firepower roster where he can elect to bring D'Lo off the bench in a Lou Williams type role. But we do not live in a perfect world, and the chances of keeping D'Lo while bringing another star in are financially slim to none.
And the Warriors seem to know this. At least according to every meme, Steph Curry knows this. After the Dubs' nine-point loss to the Bucks on Greek Heritage Night at Chase Center, Curry was seen talking to Buck star and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Curry said, according to nosey mouth readers on the internet, "Come on, let's do this."
Curry addressed these speculations saying that he was giving his gamer tag so they could play the video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds together and that he was saying, "Come see me on this game. We could team up and do some damage. Let's do it. Come on."
Curry could very well be recruiting for an all-time gamers team, or he could be saving his franchise from the tampering charges that the league loves to hand out… just ask Doc Rivers.
To add to the Curry Giannis love affair after the Bucks win, Curry gifted Giannis with a signed jersey that reportedly had a very long note.
It's safe to say that Curry desperately wants Giannis on his PUG squad.
That probably was the biggest highlight for the Dubs this past week, so let's move on to this upcoming week.
The Warriors start the new week, and three-game homestands, against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavs on Tuesday night at Chase Center. They'll also see the second-best team in the west in the Denver Nuggets before finishing the homestand with the Orlando Magic.
You can watch the Warriors take on the Mavs on Tuesday night at 7:30 PST on NBC Bay Area.