June has a week to go and already the Warrior team doesn't look like the one that just finished their season a few weeks ago, as I suggested they might not awhile back. Bob Myers left as GM, several interesting new players were drafted, Draymond opted out of his last contract year and is negotiating a longer term deal. And the Dubs traded Jordan Poole for veteran and likely future Hall of Famer Chris Paul. (The Suns traded Paul to the Wizards, who traded him to the Warriors, so Poole goes to Washington.) Free agency is next.
The writing on the wall for at least one young player was there from Coach Kerr's end of season comments summarized in my last post, that the Warriors this year were not a championship team. He was more specific in what he meant with his comments on how Miami was an Eastern Conference champion because they played together for the team, and didn't complain about their roles or playing time. Unless you have that kind of team, he said, you don't win championships.
But publicly Coach Kerr said he liked the roster the way it was, and in his first press conference as GM, Mike Dunleavy Jr. (promoted from within the organization) said the Warriors were keeping Poole for four years and hopefully longer. A few days later he traded him--not a great look for credibility but supposedly everyone understands.
Apparently a lot went on in the locker room this season that didn't get reported, for after the trade reporter Tim Kawakaki noted that no one in the organization expressed regrets at losing Poole, once thought of as the future of the franchise. The bag of promised money the Warriors save plus the tension between Poole and Draymond now eliminated, both suggest Draymond will get his contract.
Coach Kerr responded to the trade in general terms, saying that after all everybody in the organization knew there had to be a "shift." Besides a shift in players, the addition of Chris Paul could mean a change in how the Warriors play, or at least how they played this past year. No one really knows if they brought in Chris Paul to start or to run the second shift, but it was also reported that Kerr felt the Warriors need a traditional point guard. Another report said that Steph Curry not only approved of the trade (more or less a necessity) but that he wanted Chris Paul on the team.
There was also talk that the Warriors lacked veteran presence in the locker room, though that's a little harder to swallow. On the floor maybe, when all the starters weren't there. Chris Paul is not only 38 but has a history of injuries. So will they try to do with him what they tried (and failed to do) with Iggy this year, and save him for the playoffs?
The Warriors still face money difficulties, because they can't stop now--Poole played in every game last year, and Chris Paul won't, so they'll need either bigger minutes from within their present roster, or they'll need another player or two. The trading may not be over. Poole was known to complain about playing time (and he really was much better starting), but so apparently was Jonathan Kuminga. Stories say the Warriors aren't shopping him, but they said that about Poole as well.
Even if the Warriors did well with this trade and their draft picks, other teams may well have done better. As for free agency, there may not be much money to spend but at least their roster is roomy enough now--they also said goodbye to Ryan Rollins and Patrick Baldwin, Jr. Donte DiVinenzo is widely believed to be leaving for more money, although that now may also change. And it's not even July. Stay tuned.
