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What’s good, family. It’s Sykes, back from beaching, to deliver you another edition of Layup Lines. Today, we’re talking Warriors.
That latest championship run might’ve been the last of the golden years for Golden State. The band may be breaking up soon. A report from The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson surfaced Wednesday talking about the Warriors’ future and how they want to keep their championship team together beyond next season. But the reality is that’s not possible without footing a $500 million luxury tax bill.
The Warriors will have the choice to extend all of Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson over the next two seasons. To keep them all around, one or more of those players would have to take a haircut. It remains to be seen if any will.
Per the report, Green wants a max extension and is willing to go elsewhere if he can’t get one. Jordan Poole just saw Jalen Brunson’s massive payday. Andrew Wiggins was an All-Star starter and Thompson has $83.8 million guaranteed remaining on his deal.
The Warriors are probably going to have to choose between keeping their youth movement going or continuing to move forward with their core. If it comes down to that? To me, personally, the decision is a no-brainer.
Keep it rolling with the core and don’t look back.
You’d hate to see players like Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins leave. Or anyone else, really. They’ve found a really special mix of talent in Golden State that works extremely well together.
But having those auxiliary pieces without the engine that gets things rolling won’t get you anywhere. Even if the Warriors’ core isn’t what it used to be, they still know how to play together better than anyone else in the league. And they play unlike any other team we’ve ever seen before because of that.
Yes, they’re old. Steph Curry is 34 years old and will be 35 next year. Draymond is 32. Klay is 32 but is also coming off of two pretty serious injuries. You’ve only got two to three years left of this — max. Paying for them to stick around isn’t going to benefit your future at all.
But here’s the thing. The Warriors’ core has earned this. They’ve been to 6 NBA Finals in 8 years and won 4 of them. They’ve been Warriors for their entire careers. Fans will come to see them regardless of if they’re up, down or in the middle.
Traditionally in sports, we’ve seen organizations tell their all-time greats to take a hike. But, in rare cases, teams do reward their players for what they’ve done. Remember when the Lakers gave Kobe a massive extension to end his career? It’s because he’d earned that. These Warriors have, too.
We’ve seen what it looks like when teams don’t honor that. Jordan in a Wizards jersey. Olajuwon as a Raptor. Ewing with the Magic. It’s gross.
The Warriors owe it to their core and their fans to make sure that doesn’t happen. That all starts now.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Some of you might think the most unbelievable thing that happened in the NBA this offseason was Kevin Durant requesting a trade from the Nets. And, yes, that absolutely is wild. But something wilder happened today.
Longtime Spurs assistant and shot doctor Chip Engelland left the team for the Thunder.
It’s heartbreaking for the Spurs but a great get for the Thunder — particularly Josh Giddey, who might have a shot at becoming an All-Star now. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.
“The promise is there for the Australian-born standout, who is one of nine players in NBA history with career averages of at least 12 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game. Six of those players have won an MVP award.
But among that group, Giddey’s 3-point percentage is lower than each of those players except for Ben Simmons (the only player on that list other than Doncic not to win an MVP).
If he can become a more accurate shooter while working with Engelland, the future looks especially bright for Oklahoma City.”
OKC is going to be a force in a few years. Just you watch.
Shootaround
— Speaking of Steph Curry, he definitely shouldn’t try picking up baseball anytime soon.
— Please keep giving Kelsey Plum tiny trophies. This is hilarious. They need to downsize the MVP joint when they give it to her.
— Paul Pierce has thoughts on a potential Jaylen Brown-KD swap.
— The “Free Britney Griner” movement has momentum. But will it get the job done?
That’s all, folks! Thanks for rocking with us. Check back in tomorrow for more NBA goodness.
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