The Warriors are also a team that persistently keeps popping up in the LeBron James sweepstakes ever since it was confirmed that he will not be returning to the Lakers.
But it turns out that his free agency decision could become the point where the Warriors decide they no longer want to continue building around a 38-year-old Stephen Curry and rather focus on their future.
According to Anthony Slater, ESPN’s insider for the Warriors, if Golden State fails in its pursuit of LeBron James, then they plan to focus on the post-Stephen Curry era, instead of making win-now risky moves to capitalize on Stephen Curry’s final years with the franchise.
Nick Wright of Fox Sports heard these comments and decided to chastise the Warriors and incite their fans on his podcast ‘What’s Wright?’ where he empathized with them and revealed his own frustrations with this possibility.
Here are his full comments about the Warriors on the July 23 episode of his podcast.
“All right, so the Warriors, which at one point in time, I think I said I wanted, I didn’t want him to go there, then I did want him to go there. If they had been able to swing a trade for Anthony Davis, then it makes a little more sense,”said Wright as he began speaking about the Warriors as a potential landing spot for James.
“As presently constituted, if they were to add LeBron James, they would obviously be a team that you would hate to play in a series. But also a team with Kristaps and Steph coming off an injury-riddled season and Horford at 40 and Jimmy Butler coming off an ACL and Draymond at, I think, 36. And LeBron at 42, that it would be very difficult to see how they can win four straight series.”
“And I really did enjoy seeing LeBron and Steph play together in the Olympics, and we know that works. But I understand folks who feel like it would just be weird,” Wright added.
“Now, what I said at the front end is that if I can’t figure out how, you know, where LeBron’s wife and daughter want him to go and if the fact that San Francisco is the easiest flight and it would be the least disruptive to his family plays a large factor in it, then God bless. Salute. Like I totally understand it. But from a basketball perspective, I like it the least.”
“Which brings me to Anthony Slater, who on NBA Today was asked what the Warriors’ plan B without LeBron is. And he said, “Boring. I think a stable. A part of the Warriors’ long-term plan is post-Steph right now; it’s not really about the next couple of years. Think about the way they’ve kept their books clean; they have a lot of optionality, they’ve kept their draft picks.'”
“I am here to tell you, and I am consistent on this, and Steph fans, many of whom can’t stand me. I’m your biggest ally on this one. You should be beside yourself that they have not done everything they can to maximize the end of Steph Curry,” said Wright while criticizing the Warriors’ plan B.
“He was an All-NBA level player two years ago; he has obviously- hell, he was an All-NBA third team, All-NBA player three years ago. Um, this year the reason he wasn’t an All-NBA guy was because of the injury, didn’t play enough games.”
“Like a lot of the older legends. Yes, he does not have as much of an impact on winning as he once did, but he is still, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the 20 best players in the league.”
“And if you get him in the right spot, one of the 10 scariest playoff guys in the league. And for the Warriors to be focused on and worried about and thinking about their post-Steph life, it’s just abominable,” Wright concluded.
The Warriors remain hopeful of landing LeBron James in free agency. And if their Plan A goes well, then we could see Stephen Curry competing for a championship at least one more time in the royal blue and gold jersey.
But if LeBron James joins another team, we may begin to see the decline of Stephen Curry’s importance in the Warriors’ ranks. If nothing else, it would certainly put Stephen Curry’s future with the Warriors in question, as he seemingly wants to compete for a championship.
It will be fascinating to see if Stephen Curry chooses his loyalty to the franchise over his desire to compete at the highest level if LeBron James does not join them this summer and this is indeed the front office’s plan going forward.
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