A few weeks ago, the Golden State Warriors — or more specifically the trio behind an unstoppable NBA juggernaut — found themselves in uncharted territory.
Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green had done it all. Won three titles. Made five NBA Finals in just as many years. This season though, things felt different.
It was as if the Warriors were stuck between two eras, moving towards an uncertain future while still desperately holding onto what once was — and still could be.
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“Luckily, it’s first to four,” Thompson said after the Game 2 loss to Sacramento.
Lucky the Warriors have Steph too. You see, while plenty has changed over those five years some things also remain the same — namely Curry coming up clutch when it matters most.
Like he did in Game 7, with Golden State on the brink of a potential first-round elimination, putting the Warriors on his back in a historic 50-point haul.
With it, Curry eliminated the Kings and set up a date with LeBron James and the Lakers.
It will mark the first time the Lakers and Warriors have met in the NBA playoffs since 1991, a dream match-up for the NBA that will have a good chance of shattering viewership records.
Of course, James already faced Curry and the Warriors in four-straight finals series between 2015 and 2018. But that was when he was playing for Cleveland. This is different.
“I’ve waited 12 years for this,” Thompson added after Golden State’s Game 7 win.
As Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, it is yet another chance to appreciate greatness as two all-time superstars face off in a series that will reignite rivalries and potentially alter legacies.
“We all take him for granted because he’s brilliant night after night,” Kerr said of Curry. “We’ve been watching this for 10 years and you just have to remind yourself every once in a while, big picture, ‘This is one of the greatest players in the history of the game.’
“That’s how I felt back in my playing days with Michael Jordan. You’d just see it night after night and you just took it for granted. That’s how it is with Steph.”
Speaking of taking things for granted, the Warriors and Lakers can’t afford to do that this year as both franchises consider how to move forward with key roster decisions to make in the off-season.
Starting with Golden State, the defending champions finished the sixth seed so it isn’t as if they are burdened by the same expectations as the Bucks, who went out in the first round.
But they are still the defending champions and put a lot of money into keeping the core of the title-winning team together with the aim of another deep run into the post-season.
A first-round exit, even if it was to a really good Sacramento team, would have only intensified calls for the Warriors to head in a new direction.
Golden State is already facing that reality this off-season as Draymond Green has a player option waiting for him while general manager Bob Myers remains without a deal.
Then there is Klay Thompson, who is a free agent in 2024 and has an “expectation” that he will get a max-level extension this summer according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Finally, you add in the new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which Green himself said on his podcast will end NBA dynasties like the one Golden State built.
In breaking down the new CBA, ESPN’s Wojnarowski wrote: “The NBA is curbing the ability of the highest-spending teams, such as the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers, to continue running up salary and luxury tax spending while still maintaining mechanisms to add talent to the roster… those teams will no longer have access to the taxpayer mid-level in free agency”.
The Warriors are already more than $39 million over the luxury tax line this season according to Spotrac and that figure is only set to rise when Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole’s extensions kick in.
Once that takes place, the number would be closer to $49 million and that just adds yet another stumbling block towards Golden State being able to afford to keep Green.
In other words, this could be the final playoff series for one of the league’s best all-time trios.
In terms of where the latest reporting on Green’s future stands, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported last week that league sources claim the Warriors want to retain him.
Tim Kawakami, a Golden State beat writer for The Athletic, broke down what the off-season could look like for the Warriors while appearing on KNBR-AM’s ‘Tolbert & Copes’ program.
While those comments came in February, Kawakami’s comments still provide an interesting and relevant insight into how post-season results could determine Green’s playing future.
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“Draymond has the first call,” Kawakami said.
“It’s his option. He can leave no matter what they do. A lot of his decision will be based on how things turn out this season. Bob Myers and Joe Lacob are both very clear their decisions are going to be based on how it goes this season. I think if they didn’t win a championship last season, this team would have looked very different.
“We’ll see where things go. If they don’t make the playoffs, or if they’re the ninth seed and they lose in the play-in, all bets are off. There is some rumblings, not from them but around them, there could be some major moves.
“You look at the finances, they’re not going to go $100, $180, $220 million into the luxury tax, get themselves over $400 million for a team that isn’t very good. They’re not doing that.
“They could win a post-season series or two and that would change the equation.”
Of course, the Warriors have done just that — defeating the Kings to move through to the second round and set up a date with LeBron and the Lakers. So, what comes next?
“I think if things go relatively well, they would be inclined to talk to Draymond about an extension,” Kawakami said.
“Not a massive extension and he might not like the dollars that they are offering. I don’t think they are going to go $70 million for two years. If it’s in the realm of where he’s at — $27.6 [million] I think — whatever that number is, I think they talk about it, because there’s one other large stakeholder in this. He wears No. 30, pretty important guy, and he’s going to want to keep things as together as possible.”
Of course, he’s referring to Curry here. But if that isn’t possible and post-season results warrant change, Kawakami said it may come down to a decision between Green and Poole.
“It might be Draymond or Poole, or can they afford Draymond and Poole,” Kawakami said. “That’s to me the long-term discussion. If they are good enough to get to $400 million, it’s Draymond and Poole. If they’re not, probably a Western Conference Finals-level team, I think it might be Draymond or Poole.
“Draymond might just make the decision for them. If Draymond leaves, they absolutely can keep Poole. If Draymond stays, and they’re not very good, there are some tough decisions to make.”
Poole signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension last year but could be floated as a potential trade chip should Golden State instead decide to move him on.
Golden State Warriors — Free Agents
2023: Draymond Green (player), Donte DiVincenzo (player), JaMychal Green, Andre Iguodala, Anthony Lamb, Lester Quinones, Ty Jerome
2024: Klay Thompson, Gary Payton II
As for the Lakers, the post-season could help them determine whether to push on with a pursuit of superstar free agent Kyrie Irving in the summer.
L.A. was one of a few teams linked to Irving before he joined the Mavericks in a blockbuster move before the deadline, seemingly condemning the Lakers to another early exit.
But instead a series of smaller moves has the 2019-20 champions into the second round of the playoffs and riding a wave of momentum after a 40-point Game 6 demolition of Memphis.
What was particularly pleasing for the Lakers — and worrying for the rest of the league — was the fact that it wasn’t their stars who were always leading the way against the Grizzlies.
Instead, it was Austin Reaves (23 points), D’Angelo Russell (19 points) and Rui Hachimura (29 points) who helped lift the Lakers to a 128-112 win in Game 1.
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Once their biggest weakness, the Lakers’ supporting cast is now loaded. What happens this series against Golden State though could dictate whether it stays that way.
Reaves, Russell and Hachimura are all free agents at the end of this season, as is the case for other handy role players like Lonnie Walker IV, Dennis Schroder and Troy Brown Jr.
Reaves, who has averaged 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists this post-season, shapes as the team’s most in-demand free agent and, as a result, the most expensive to keep.
“If it gets to that $60-$70 [million] range for Austin Reaves, that’s a tough contract for the Lakers to match,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania said recently on FanDuel TV.
“He wants to give the Lakers every opportunity to try to get a deal done.”
Davis and James, meanwhile, both have player options for the 2024-25 season.
While there is no concrete reporting that suggests either will leave, it is obviously in the Lakers’ best interests to capitalise on the superstar duo’s talents right now.
They did just that before the trade deadline with a series of shrewd moves that now has the Lakers emerging as a potential title dark horse.
But for now, the front office has to decide whether the roster in its current format is enough to deliver another championship to L.A. If not, going after Irving would mean sacrificing the depth that got them to this position in the first place.
“They’re going to have two options,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps said on ‘Get Up’.
“One is to go chase a third star, like a certain guy who is playing in Dallas that LeBron James wanted to play with during the season and has played with in the past. Or they could re-sign D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and this group that they have and sort of build on it going forward.
“We’ve seen since the trade deadline at least they have a team that is a functioning, coherent basketball team instead of the trainwreck they were at the start of the season. But now going forward if you look at where the Lakers are at, you have to decide which of those paths you are going to go down.
“Are you going to go down the path of not having a lot of depth around LeBron and AD and go superstar heavy or are you going to build out some of this depth and try have LeBron and AD with a much better supporting cast?”
If that revamped supporting cast steps up again, the Lakers may have no choice but to go down the latter path.
Los Angeles Lakers — Free Agents
2023: Lonnie Walker IV, Malik Beasley (team), D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves (restricted), Rui Hachimura (restricted), Scottie Pippen Jr. (restricted), Wenyen Gabriel, Dennis Schroder, Troy Brown Jr.
2024: Anthony Davis (player), LeBron James (player), Jared Vanderbilt, Max Christie (restricted), Davon Reed, Mo Bamba, Cole Swider
Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Schedule
Game 1: Wednesday 3nd May @ 12pm, TNT [Tuesday 10pm ET]
Game 2: Friday 5th May @ 11am, ESPN [Thursday 9pm ET]
Game 3: Sunday 7th May @ 10.30am, ABC [Saturday 8.30pm ET]
Game 4: Tuesday 9th May @ 12pm, TNT [Monday 10pm ET]
Game 5: Thursday 10th May @ TBD, TNT [Wednesday ET]
Game 6: Saturday 13th May @ TBD, ESPN [Friday ET]
Game 7: Monday 15th May @ TBD, TBD [Sunday ET]
History of Steph vs LeBron in the playoffs
2015 NBA Finals: Warriors win 4-2 over Cavaliers
2016 NBA Finals: Cavaliers win 4-3 over Warriors
2017 NBA Finals: Warriors win 4-1 over Cavaliers
2018 NBA Finals: Warriors win 4-0 over Cavaliers
2021 NBA play-in game: Lakers defeat Warriors
