With a bit more than two months for the NBA regular season to start, there’s no question the Golden State Warriors are at the top of the contending lists. Steve Kerr’s team won a Championship in 2014-15 and blew a 3-1 lead last year against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s not everything, though. They also won had the best regular season in NBA history with a 73-9 mark.
The core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, however, wasn’t enough. The Warriors aggressively signed Kevin Durant during the offseason. The former Oklahoma City Thunder star will make the Warriors an even better team… if this magnificent foursome stays together. Rumors indicate there could be a trade coming soon involving the Warriors.
Surprisingly, the odd man out in this equation could be Draymond Green. The power forward has been under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons of late, and the ownership isn’t happy with his behavior. Plus, it’s not as if they’re going to trade him for pennies on the dollar. A potential departure of Green would land Anthony Davis into Golden State.
Now that would be scary, isn’t it? The league’s best player, the two best shooters, the top scorer and the best big man all in the same team. This trade would transform the Warriors into an inmediate dynasty, one that would dominate the league for years. Sure, Green is a fan favorite in the Bay Area, but Davis would give the team something Golden State lacks: an intimading rim protector who can also produce on the offensive side of the ball.
Things, however, are not that easy. More players would be involved in this trade, and it’s not like the Warriors have extensive depth on their roster. We must remember Andrew Bogut and Harrison Barnes already left to make space for Durant. Adding another expensive player like Davis would cripple the team’s depth even more. Do the Warriors really want to be a team with a powerful starting unit but no bench? We already saw that with the Miami Heat a couple years ago, and it wasn’t pretty.
A possible departure of Green would also force the Warriors to change their small-ball concept. Green is vital to the team’s success as a point forward on the perimeter, but Davis wouldn’t be able to offer the same versatility. His presence would limit the options available on offense for Kerr.
To make things even more complicated, trading Green away would disrupt the core of the team. Sure, Davis can be an improvement, but as the saying goes: “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
Sure, Davis would make the Warriors a very dangerous team for years to come. But the Warriors aren’t struggling either, and they would be wise to keep the team as it is. Even if that means trying to cope with Green’s personality and off-the-court behavior.