The Golden State Warriors had quite the up-and-down season.
They were the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in the first month of the season. However, they quickly dropped the standings and were as low as the No. 12 seed.
That's when Mike Dunleavy Jr. pulled the trigger on the blockbuster trade that sent Andrew Wiggins and Kyle Anderson to the Miami Heat for Jimmy Butler.
Stephen Curry
May 2, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) holds onto the ball against the Houston Rockets in the third quarter of game six of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center.
© Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Ex-NBA player says Steve Kerr struggles in this particular area
Even with the trade, the Warriors still had to win, and win they did.
With Butler in the lineup, the Warriors were 23-7 and 27-8 when both Butler and Stephen Curry played.
However, from the point when they traded for Butler, every game turned into a must-win and could be a factor as to why Curry got hurt in the Western Conference semifinals.
With Curry out, his hand was forced to re-instert Jonathan Kuminga back into the lineup after getting benched and out of the rotation down the stretch of the regular season.
According to former Warrior DeMarcus Cousins, this is nothing new for Kerr.
"He just doesn't handle young talent well," Cousins said. He doesn't develop young talent...we've seen one guy develop under Steve Kerr. The Warriors ran him off, that was Jordan Poole."
Poole was an essential part of the Warriors' most recent championship against the Boston Celtics. But after the now-famous scrum between Poole and Draymond Green, Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards.
If you put Poole aside, there are some young players who one could argue haven't reached their potential. James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Kuminga are just the latest.
Kuminga could be the best way for the Warriors to bolster their roster in the offseason. He is set to become a restricted free agent and could force a team that wants him into a sign-and-trade.
This isn't an unfamiliar situation. While it's an entirely different sport, longtime coach Bill Belichick was horrible at drafting young talent down the stretch of his NFL career and relied more on trading for and signing veterans.