The Golden State Warriors are in something of a difficult situation as a team with an aging core in Stephen Curry and Draymond Green that has to decide whether giving up future assets is worth maximizing their windows, especially in a season where they are on the outside of the playoff picture.
To hear Green tell it, he and Curry aren’t putting any pressure on the front office to do so.
“The beautiful part about being in the space that we’re in is, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and myself all disagree with mortgaging off the future of this organization, saying that we’re going for it right now,” Green told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports on Thursday.
“Bad teams do that. Bad organizations do that. We’re not neither one.”
The reality is Golden State is not a legitimate threat in the Western Conference as currently constructed.
While Curry is an all-time great and Green will surely join him in the Hall of Fame one day, this season’s team is 19-19 and in 11th place in the Western Conference standings. It wouldn’t even be in the play-in tournament if the season ended Monday, let alone challenging the likes of the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and others.
Trading for someone like Jimmy Butler would naturally raise the ceiling for the 2024-25 team.
But it also might lower the organization’s long-term ceiling if the Warriors trade young players or draft picks to make a run at a fifth title for Curry and Green. And the latter doesn’t think it is worth it.
“So for us, if something is going to happen, it needs to be the right thing,” Green said. “We’re not going to jump and make the wrong decision because we panicked. That’s how you set your organization back five to seven years.”
He also wants the Warriors to remain a championship threat after he retires.
“When I’m done, when Steph is done, I want us to come back, when Steve’s done, I want us to come back, sit on the court and talk so much s–t to everybody,” Green said. “Because our organization, our team, is that good.”
Golden State seemed to be in an ideal position earlier in the season when it started 12-3 with a mix of contributions from the veterans and young players like Jonathan Kuminga, but it is just 7-16 since.
Green’s comments suggest the front office isn’t going to overreact to the poor play, which is likely better for the organization in the long term.
