Part 12 of offseason guides bring us to two aging superstars and their teams trying to capture 1 more title before their retirement. The Golden State Warriors, who are trying to recapture their magical title run in 2022, and the Los Angeles Lakers, who are led by Lebron James trying to get his 5th ring.
The Golden State Warriors have had a rocky offseason. They’re trying to rebuild the roster, again, to make a championship run and get Steph Curry his 5th NBA title. The magic of the 2022 run felt like a reward for the injuries they faced in the years prior. However, all great teams eventually get old and drop off in talent. Golden State’s lack of playoff success hasn’t been for a lack of effort by the front office. They traded Jordan Poole for Chris Paul and tried to add some new faces around Steph and Klay Thompson. However, those moves only saw them lose in the second round of the playoffs and miss the playoffs entirely this past season. Before we get to analyzing some of the moves Golden State could make, let's reflect on the legendary run they’ve had.
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are icons for the Golden State Warriors. They’ll both have a statue outside the Chase Center and their jersey’s in the rafters. They, along with Draymond Green, helped create one of the most dominant dynasties in NBA history from 2015-2022; a period that saw them win 4 NBA championships and, with help from Kevin Durant, deliver the most dominant playoff run ever in 2017 when they blazed through the entire league with a 16-1 record. Curry, Thompson, and Green are immortalized in Warriors history for their play with the franchise. Curry and Thompson earned their stripes under coach Mark Jackson, who made a head turning comment early in both their careers when he famously said, “I have the best shooting backcourt of all time, call my bluff.” If you tried calling his bluff, you failed miserably. Curry is the greatest shooter of all time. He’s the only unanimous MVP in league history and he’s a 4 time NBA champion. He’s got every shot in his bag with unlimited range. He’s credited with changing the entire league because of how deadly he is from the three point line. He’s arguably the reason why many teams started to shift towards shooting more three pointers. Not enough things can be credited to Curry. He’s a top 10 talent of all time and he has the resume to back it up. As he’s aged, now 36 years old, he’s only gotten better. In 2021 he averaged a staggering 32 points per game, the highest in his career and it turned heads in how people view his game. His conditioning and movement on the court rivals no one. He’s the epitome of player movement as he’s often seen running around in the half court for 15 or more seconds trying to get any type of separation for a shot. With all 5 defenders often glued to where he is, he accounts for many assists and baskets that are created from his movement. Tyron Lue said game planning for him was more scary than Kevin Durant ahead of the 2018 finals. Steph is a legendary player, whose impact will last a lifetime on the NBA. His two running mates, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, helped form a big three that has the best chemistry in the NBA. Thompson is similar to Curry; his shooting ability and player movement helped create the best shooting backcourt in league history. Add in Green, who is an all time great defender and a super high IQ passer, and you’ve created one of the most successful big threes in league history. Reflecting on these three is a great appreciation considering they’re close to ending their careers and with Thompson now on the Mavericks, the “Splash Brothers”, as he and Curry are known as, are officially no more.
As far as adding talent to the current roster around Steph, the Warriors still have some options and moves they can make. For starters, they have their 2025 first round picks and are allowed to trade 2025/2027 combination or 2026/2028 first round picks. They also have a 2030 first round pick if it’s between picks 1-20 (goes to Washington if it’s 21-30). They have young talent in Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski who teams have been interested in. Overall, the Warriors are a good team. Winning 46 games in the Western Conference is a challenging thing and there’s nothing bad about being a good team, unless you have Stephen Curry and frankly the Warriors owe him everything to try and win another title. He has basically built the franchise's value from scratch. A trade target they’ve been connected with is Lauri Markkanen. He’s a 7 foot center that fits perfectly next to Green and Curry. He’ll help space the floor, something the Warriors now need since Thompson is gone. It is just about how much current general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. is willing to sacrifice future Warriors teams to help win a 5th title soon with Curry still on the roster. If they do not make a trade for Markkenan, they still have a good roster. It has more depth then in past years with the additions of Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield, and De’Anthony Melton. The continuing development of Kuminga, Moody, and Podziemski is a crucial factor to the Warriors current and future success. The three players are very good and can help them win. The final and arguably the most important factor to their success next season will be Andrew Wiggins. He was phenomenal during the Warriors 2021-2022 season and playoff run. He’s been dealing with some off the court personal issues that’s made many wonder how much it’s affecting his on court play. Having him return to his 2021-2022 form will be crucial for success next season. Overall, the Warriors have a solid roster, but compared to the top of the Western Conference they’ll need many players to step up their games for next year.
It’s fitting the second team featured is the Los Angeles Lakers. They too have an all-time great player looking for his 5th ring in Lebron James. He’s the best player in history in a lot of people’s eyes and rightfully so. He’s 6’ 9” 250 pounds and can do everything a guard can do. He’s an elite all around player with his passing, scoring, and defense. We’re not sure how much time Lebron has left in the league. He's entering his 22nd season in the league which would tie a league record and it’s important we appreciate his greatness while he’s still playing. He, like Curry, is an all time great and is the face of the current NBA. If there were doubts about whether he’s losing a step, look no further than this past Saturday as he made the game winning layup in Team USA’s exhibition game in London. He’s one of the greatest players playing for a Laker’s franchise that’s considered one of the most iconic franchises in the world. The Lakers are synonymous with the NBA; they've won titles in each of the last 6 decades and are a popular free agent destination for players to sign. However, this offseason has not attracted said free agents.
The Lakers have whiffed on some of their ideal free agent targets, notably Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan. However, the misconception is the Lakers didn’t have a ton of moves they could make. James signed a 2 year, 101 million dollar deal that essentially took up all the cap space after the Lakers missed on the free agent targets. However, the Lakers had most of their team coming back this past season. Again they won 47 games last season, which is still a solid team, but it does not come close to contending with the top of the Western Conference. The current Lakers roster as currently constructed can still make some noise however, and the Lakers still have the assets to gain a third star to play next to Anthony Davis and Lebron James. They have their 2029, 2030, and 2031 first round picks available to trade with the maximum allowed being the 2029 and 2031 picks. Pairing these picks with this year's first round pick Dalton Knecht can attract a lot of teams in making a trade. Trae Young has been a popular name floated around as he’s the likely next disgruntled superstar to ask to be traded away. His fit next to Davis and James would be ideal as he brings necessary ball handling and play making to the Lakers. As of now, the Lakers have a lot of the players that were under contract this past season on the roster for next season. D'Angelo Russell decided to opt-in to his 19.7 million dollar player option and not test his value in free agency. The Lakers still have needs and players to develop. Austin Reeves is a player that needs to take steps in the right direction for being a better defender for the Lakers. His improvement in this area could help the Lakers in not stretching out Anthony Davis and allow them to take some stress off of James as well. Reeves and Russell improving these areas will help the perimeter defense and give the front office some confidence in focusing on other areas of improvement.
Along with the low activity in free agency, the biggest storyline for the Lakers this offseason has been drafting Bronny James. He is the son of current player Lebron James and they’re attempting to become the first father-son duo to play in the same NBA game. Bronny received some national criticism after many believed there were others deserving of the 55th overall selection. However, I still think he can be a good player for the Lakers. He can develop into a good shooter and defender, a current need for the Lakers, and ultimately if he doesn’t pan out in the NBA it’s not a big deal. If the Lakers are banking on trying to hit on the 55th overall pick then that’s a wishful strategy. Overall, I think he’ll be a decent role player for them.
As always feel free to comment below and any news that occurs after the release of this article will be updated prior to the start of the season.
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