In the NBA, there are several ways for teams to rebuild and become contenders. Some teams will do it through the draft, hitting on several selections who blossom into stars. Others will be lucky enough to acquire a star player via trade or free agency, raising the ceiling of a franchise.
The Golden State Warriors were able to do both. Golden State selected future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in 2009, 2012 and 2012. Curry and Thompson were first-round picks, while Green was drafted in the second.
They have been the foundation of the most recent NBA dynasty, as those three played key roles in winning four titles in eight years. Golden State appeared in six NBA Finals overall, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors.
Three of those visits were aided by Golden State landing Kevin Durant in free agency in 2016. The Warriors appeared in the finals all three seasons with Durant on the team, running their streak to five straight.
It was an excellent example of how to build a contender through patience, with a little bit of luck involved. Once the inevitable occurs and a rebuild has to happen again for the Warriors, you can expect them to attempt to replicate that recipe for success.
One thing you can be sure they won’t do, as long as Joe Lacob owns the team, is to do a full teardown rebuild, a la the Oklahoma City Thunder. When speaking to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, Lacob made it clear he has no plans on having the Warriors bottom out for draft positioning.
“It’s the reason that I don’t think we will ever, ever try to bottom out. We are the Golden State Warriors. I believe in the culture. I believe that word gets out. I could go on and on. I’m not trying to brag. I’m just saying, that’s who we are.
“We’re never going to bottom out. I won’t settle for that. We’re not doing that.” (H/T Bleacher Report)
The Warriors’ version of bottoming out was in the 2019-20 season. Thompson was sidelined because of an injury, while Curry and Green also suffered injuries throughout the season. It resulted in an ugly 15-50 season and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
With that selection, they picked center James Wiseman. Alas, that began the current stretch of Golden State not being able to develop their youngsters while attempting to still contend.
The Warriors were able to win the NBA Championship in 2022, but the strategy of two timelines being run parallel with each other has proven unsuccessful overall. Golden State hasn’t had much success developing younger players, as they are trying to squeeze all of the success they can out of their Big 3.
Golden State certainly has the means to retool on the fly and bring in some new pieces. But, will Mike Dunleavy Jr. be able to recreate the success Bob Myers was able to have before him? We will have to wait and see.
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