For many current members of the Golden State Warriors, the thought of being left out of the postseason is a new idea. After five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, the Warriors will miss the playoffs.
Significant injuries to both Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry paired with the trades of D’Angelo Russell, Willie Cauley-Stein, Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III turned Golden State’s attempt at a sixth straight Finals appearance an uphill battle.
Before the season was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic with 17 games remaining, Golden State became the first team in the league eliminated from playoff contention. With the worst record in the league at 15-50, the Warriors were left off out of the NBA’s 22-team return plan in Orlando.
With their season officially over, general manager Bob Myers has had some time to reflect on Golden State’s down season. On a conference call with Bay Area media. Myers spoke about what he’s learned from the 2019-20 season.
Via Warriors SoundCloud:
I look at it a lot of different ways. The obvious way is we had the worst record in the NBA. We’ve got to own that. You can’t run from that. I can give you reasons, which you were at all our games, so you know them already. Those things usually fall — most of the time, you’re judged on your record and we were 15-50, which is nothing to be proud of. Watching our team lose 50 times was no fun for me or anybody that’s competitive, our coaches, our players. There was moments in time where we had to make decisions to help solidify our future in regards to letting some guys go that had been good for us that were difficult. I probably learned more this season than I have in the last five as far as how to approach things, how to do things, what I think we need to do better.
I think losing helps that, ironically. The more adversity or, the more you face, the more you examine your process. When you win, it does cover up quite a bit. Also learning to protect who we are, our culture. Losing usually brings out — and not fall apart or derail in a season where we had the worst record in the league. It’s a good thing that we were able to hold our culture and our relationships and the fabric of our team together. I’m proud of that, but we have to be clearly better. We have to be better record-wise, we have to be better — we have to have a better team. So a lot to learn.
I have, like I said, mixed emotions, but usually when you have a record like that, you can’t really feel that good about it.
Listen to Myers full press conference on Warriors SoundCloud:
Myers will now have the chance to cash in on Golden State’s poor season. The Warriors are slated to be on the clock in the top-five picks in the 2020 NBA Draft. For the first time in years, Golden State will have the opportunity to add a top-tier prospect in the draft lottery.
With an early jump on the offseason, Myers and the rest of the Warriors’ front office will have plenty of time to prepare for a draft pick that could sway Golden State’s window in returning back to the Finals.
[lawrence-related id=28261,27791,25658,25400,26576]