The Golden State Warriors came into the 2022-23 NBA season looking to repeat as champions.
Thus far, it has been something of a bumpy ride.
Putting aside all the summertime drama between Jordan Poole and Draymond Green, and ignoring all the fights with media personalities, the Warriors haven’t even really been able to get on the same page on-the-court this year.
Their 3-5 record is bad, obviously – but the problems extend beyond that. The Warriors are 25th in defensive rating, 20th in defensive rebounding, 15th in opponent points in the paint and 21st in opponent fast break points.
There are a lot of holes that need to be plugged, particularly defensively, if this group wants to improve.
This week, NBA insider Sean Deveney spoke to a Western Conference exec who suggested that change may be on the horizon for the Warriors if something drastic doesn’t improve.
“Yeah, there has never been a sense that they were ready to move on from Draymond, but that has changed in the last couple of months,” the Western Conference executive said.
“They gave out the extensions [to Poole and Wiggins], and that was a pretty clear sign like, OK, we’re not all in on Draymond from here out.”
The situation with Poole, specifically, seems to have expedited the timeline as far as Green’s exit goes.
“If Draymond had been a good soldier all the way, maybe they plan to work it out with him,” the exec continued.
“But everything that happened gave them the opening to move on from him, and the other guys are going to be OK with it.
“Individually, I am not sure anyone would say Steph or Klay is fed up or anything, but the organization is more in a position to move on from him, and you have to think that would not be the case if they did not think Steph and Klay were on board.”
Green is currently averaging 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. If he were putting up that stat line and then the Warriors were doing well defensively, that would be one thing. But they aren’t getting much from him on either of the ball.
As things currently stand the 32-year-old is set to make $25.8 million this year and then has a $27.6 million player option for next year. From there, his future is unclear.
Golden State has some problems. Guys being unhappy with their roles is one issue. This Green situation is another.
At least Russell Wilson’s wife still knows how to impress.https://t.co/Pmq6CJhNle
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 2, 2022
Will the Warriors’ front office opt to make changes in order to alter the team’s current trajectory?
Time will tell, but it seems like a far likelier option now than it was at the very beginning of the season.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
