Offseason Grades - Golden State Warriors

[bondom34]

Next division up in offseason grades is going to be the Atlantic. As a heads up not sure if I'll run these daily over the weekend/holiday but figured at least something here to start it off.

K_Chile22's Grade:
Golden State Warriors transactions

Front office
none.

Draft
Drafted Jonathan Kuminga at #7.

Drafted Moses Moody at #14.

Trades
Traded Eric Paschall to Utah for top-42 protected future 2nd, TPE.

Free Agency
Re-signed Steph Curry, 4/max.
Signed Nemanja Belica, 1/min.
Signed Otto Porter, 1/min.
Signed Andre Iguodala, 1/min.

Offseason Thoughts
Going to start off by saying: I hate the hedging they've been doing the past tow seasons. Trying to have your cake an eat it too is a disservice to steph. Going to knock them for that. Not a ton because I don't know what trades were out there, but I'm sure there was something to try and help Steph while he's in his prime.
Steph extension is obviously great, really like the porter signing if he can stay healthy. BJelly and Andre are meh. Paschall trade is fine, think he has a bit more hype around him from his rookie year than he should.
Love the value they got at 7 and 14, Kuminga and Moody both should have gone a bit higher imo.

Grade
C+. Annoyed by the direction and not doing enough to help Steph, but not enough to give them a negative grade given the fact that Steph extended and, though I think they should have used the picks for win now talent instead, they got good value for me.
2022 Prediction
Home-court for the play-in
Offseason in gif form


Mamba4Goat's Grade:

Golden State Warriors transactions

Front office
none.

Draft
Drafted Jonathan Kuminga at #7.
Drafted Moses Moody at #14.

Trades
Traded Eric Paschall to Utah for top-42 protected future 2nd, TPE.

Free Agency
Re-signed Steph Curry, 4/max.
Signed Nemanja Belica, 1/min.
Signed Otto Porter, 1/min.
Signed Andre Iguodala, 1/min.

Offseason Thoughts
Kuminga was a top 5, top 6 draft pick at worst. There was a full tier drop off after that. Golden State lucking into him and Moody (who was a top 6-8 player) is absolutely wild. Maxing Curry was a no-brainer. Getting Bjelica, Porter, and Iggy all on mins is amazing too. The Eric Paschall trade was very bad though. Like...head scratching wtf bad.

Grade
A. There were way too many good things to outweigh the bad Paschall trade.

2022 Prediction
5-8. A lot of this hinges on how Klay is post-injury and if Wiseman, Kuminga, or Moody can contribute at all. Being able to infuse youth into their old team could go a long way.
Offseason in gif form


Bondom34's Grade:

Golden State Warriors transactions

Front office
none.

Draft
Drafted Jonathan Kuminga at #7.
Drafted Moses Moody at #14.

Trades
Traded Eric Paschall to Utah for top-42 protected future 2nd, TPE.

Free Agency
Re-signed Steph Curry, 4/max.
Signed Nemanja Belica, 1/min.
Signed Otto Porter, 1/min.
Signed Andre Iguodala, 1/min.

Offseason Thoughts
This felt like an offseason where the Warriors had to choose a direction: all in for a 3rd star or pivot a bit toward youth. It feels like they did neither but I'm also struggling to really knock them much because I'm less sure who said star was. That said it just feels like a team with dual timelines I'm very uncertain about and despite liking some things they did I can't totally buy in to their offseason either.

First the draft. Loved Moody for them, fortunate he fell but looks like a great fit. Kuminga was in a group of players who are flawed with upside who were available at 7.

Trade wise seems the goal was more tax savings than anything which while understandable they basically gave away Paschall for free which is a bit underwhelmig.

Free agency wise, locking up Curry was the big one and in some ways expected but still huge. These contracts will basically always be "too much" toward the tail end but like every other star you lock this caliber of player up when you can and good on them for doing so. Iggy I don't know if he has much left but is a good locker room guy they have history with, and I love both Porter Jr. and Bjelica on minimums, good fit and good value plays.

Overall I mostly like what this team did, I just don't knows if I can grade this quite as high because of what they didn't do. Editing this in last minute: I also can't dock them too much because I'm unsure what was available. A weird balancing act but feels like they're sort of half way in.

Grade
B-
2022 Prediction
West Play-In, guessing 8th-9th

Offseason in gif form

[Texas Chuck]

Hate the have my cake and eat it too nature of this off-season. Just don't see how it makes sense with their aging core.

But locking up Steph though the end of his career is great.
I like the gambles they took on min guys in FA to mix in with some of their kids who got to play last year.

Did not like the draft at all. But I'm not an expert. Still Mitchell felt like such an obvious choice and he's going to be ready right now and I'm not convinced Kuminga has a higher ceiling either.

Hate that there is starting caliber center on the roster. Hate that there is no backup PG on the roster.

Feels like you are wasting Curry/Draymond here. Klay cannot save everything if he can even do anything.

C-. Would be lower if not for locking up Steph. Hated this off-season. Feels totally directionless.

[bondom34]

Hate the have my cake and eat it too nature of this off-season. Just don't see how it makes sense with their aging core.

But locking up Steph though the end of his career is great.
I like the gambles they took on min guys in FA to mix in with some of their kids who got to play last year.

Did not like the draft at all. But I'm not an expert. Still Mitchell felt like such an obvious choice and he's going to be ready right now and I'm not convinced Kuminga has a higher ceiling either.

Hate that there is starting caliber center on the roster. Hate that there is no backup PG on the roster.

Feels like you are wasting Curry/Draymond here. Klay cannot save everything if he can even do anything.

C-. Would be lower if not for locking up Steph. Hated this off-season. Feels totally directionless.

Actually think I agree with a decent bit of this but ended up not as down on it mainly because I just don't know what was available they could have done to really change things. Agree on the have your cake part though, and get the vibe they're just going to kind of fade into the distance a bit with this core barring some change in that direction.

Thought they did well on min guys, and Moody was a good one though it was a bit of fortune he fell so amount of credit given is questionable. I think I might have been lower if I knew there was a move available to them but still ended up not really loving it. I may have been too lenient but just kept not knowing what was there.

[HornetJail]

This is such a tough one to rate. On one hand, I like most of the moves individually- Kuminga is a great get at #7, Moody is solid at #14 (I think). Porter is a real nice min contract pickup, getting Iggy back is cool too. They didn't sell ridiculously low on Wiseman. All those by themselves are nice moves... but this just isn't a contending roster around Steph in the final year(s) of his prime. One of those picks needed to be moved for a win-now piece and I would've been a believer in the Warriors again. I expect they'll be a top 6 team in the West with hopefully a healthy Klay by midseason, but they'll be way too reliant on three very young inexperienced players to have any real chance at a deep playoff run. I'm going with a solid B

[Mamba4Goat]

What is the alternative to the “having your cake and eat it”? The trade market isn’t really flush with stars and the few that are/were available would be either not worth it or bad fits.

[5paceman]

What is the alternative to the “having your cake and eat it”? The trade market isn’t really flush with stars and the few that are/were available would be either not worth it or bad fits.

Yeah. Any big move that above posters want would mean trading Wiggins, so at best a sideways move. And then who was even available that they should have traded for?

About having to rely too much on youth, without Kuminga/Moody/Wiseman, they still have:

Curry
Klay
Dray
Wiggins
Looney
Iguadala
Belly
Porter
Lee
Poole
JTA

It's an A from this Warriors fan. And it's not mentioned here, but they also beefed up the coaching staff with Atkinson and Mahlalela from Toronto.

[azwfan]

I would give them a B+.
The coaching staff hires seem to be a huge upgrade (but its not accounted for in this format).

I like the 2 draft picks even though I didn't think there was any way we'd take Kuminga, I see why we did.

I think some folks are confused by the front office's approach (or maybe I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt).

If Klay isn't 90% of what he was, we aren't going to be a title team. So there really isn't a lot of point to pushing all your chips in when you haven't seen the turn or the river and you're playing a draw off the flop. Mitchell isn't going to make us a title team if Klay isn't... Klay-ing. Random vet we trade a pick for (with little to no salary filler) isn't either.

Give them till the trade deadline before claiming this is a cake and eat it too scenario. And once again, what is the point of having cake if you can't eat it?

I would guess if we are cooking by the trade deadline, the FO would make a big move if available.

[azwfan]

What is the alternative to the “having your cake and eat it”? The trade market isn’t really flush with stars and the few that are/were available would be either not worth it or bad fits.

Yeah. Any big move that above posters want would mean trading Wiggins, so at best a sideways move. And then who was even available that they should have traded for?

About having to rely too much on youth, without Kuminga/Moody/Wiseman, they still have:

Curry
Klay
Dray
Wiggins
Looney
Iguadala
Belly
Porter
Lee
Poole
JTA

It's an A from this Warriors fan. And it's not mentioned here, but they also beefed up the coaching staff with Atkinson and Mahlalela from Toronto.

Whats pretty cool about looking at this roster is that JTA was one of our key players to end the year last year. Lee also started a bunch of games. And now they have been pushed down the roster where I think they are positives. If JTA and Lee are your 10th and 11th men, you're doing pretty good I think. (health permitting of course)

[weekend_warrior]

Hate the have my cake and eat it too nature of this off-season. Just don't see how it makes sense with their aging core.

But locking up Steph though the end of his career is great.
I like the gambles they took on min guys in FA to mix in with some of their kids who got to play last year.

Did not like the draft at all. But I'm not an expert. Still Mitchell felt like such an obvious choice and he's going to be ready right now and I'm not convinced Kuminga has a higher ceiling either.

Hate that there is starting caliber center on the roster. Hate that there is no backup PG on the roster.

Feels like you are wasting Curry/Draymond here. Klay cannot save everything if he can even do anything.

C-. Would be lower if not for locking up Steph. Hated this off-season. Feels totally directionless.

Interesting how different opinions can be. I absolutely loved what they did this offseason. What a fellow Warriors fan said below is of course absolutely crucial to my evaluation: there is no point in going all in before you see how Klay looks after the injuries. And that won't happen before early next year probably. So they stack the roster with rookies with big upside and cheap veterans to provide solid play until more information is available. The direction seems absolutely clear to me. I remain with my opinion that the only way back to immediate relevance would have been a Klay-trade last summer. Obviously, they didn't want to go down that road.

Concerning the your points on individual players and positions I will say this:

I consider Poole as the (almost) ideal backup PG in the system. He's learned a lot from Curry and can play with a similar style (on-ball and off-ball), which should help the second unit's consistency and approach.
Looney is a starting quality center to me, the flaw is of course his health, he will probably continue to play 20MPG at most. On the other hand, that gives flexibility to play smaller units with Dray at center and also allows Wiseman to earn minutes. Health is the biggest concern here.

Kuminga vs. Mitchell I will go out on a limb and say that I expect Kuminga to have the significantly better career (as long as no injuries derail him). Mitchell remains one of the most overrated rookies to me.

I give an A- for this summer.

Would have been an A if they could have signed Batum.

[giberish]

As a Warriors fan it's frustrating.

Right now I have GS as the 8th best team in the WC. But the gap from 1st to 8th is unusually small. There isn't (or doesn't look to be) a great team in the WC. (the finals could be more difficult but not hopeless, as the Bucks look better then anyone in the WC, but not that much better , and the Nets are fragile enough there's a decent chance you won't be facing a healthy, in-form Nets team).

If there were a good fitting star then a big push to get them would have been great, but there wasn't such a player on the market (Simmons is a horrible fit). But that wasn't the only possible win-now move. Just trading Wiseman or #14/Moody for another solid player or two to fill out the #4-7 part of the Warriors rotation would make a big difference in a year where the gap from play-in team to title (or at least finals) contender is so small. The 'if we can't get another star then there's no use in doing anything' attitude the FO appears to have is quite frustrating.

I find many Warriors fans viewing the roster with pretty extreme rose colored glasses. Iggy is a 15 mpg guy by this point, and isn't making near the positive impact he used to when he does play. Bjelica was clearly slowing with age last season as well. Porter might be a steal but also might be completely done as a useful NBA player. They were available for min salary contracts for a reason. Lee and JTA should be 11-13th men. Fine to cover depth minutes as guys get hurt during the year but nothing special. That's why the roster really needs another solid guys above them.

Grades:
Details: A- Vet min guys as good as you plausibly get with vet min deals, draft picks look good.
Big picture: D-
Overall: C

[Texas Chuck]

.

Indeed. Even though I'm always right , it's much more interesting when there is difference of opinion.

But for me it comes down to one basic concept -- if you have an MVP level player except in very unique circumstances I want you to be trying hard to win. And not only does GSW have that MVP level player in Curry coming off a great year, they also have DPOY level player coming off a great year--and these are proven playoff killers.

And they are both nearing the end of their prime. Time is ticking, ticking. And as you will see when Dallas comes up, I'm quite frustrated with them doing essentially nothing to upgrade the roster and their near MVP level player is a kid and just signed his extension. So if I'm bothered Dallas isn't maximizing the Luka window....

Poole may work out. But I'd want another guy who creates more for others. Looney is a fine 18 mpg center. But he's not a quality starting center. Not imo---I know Warriors fans love this guy.

Just way too many questions marks. Klay the biggest one, but can Wiggins do that again or is he going to revert back to who he always was before? Can all those young guys forced into bigger roles last year give even more this year? Can either of the draft picks or Wiseman give the team any positive play at all? All 3 min FA's are players I like, but all come with major concerns. What does Iggy have left? Was Bjelica done last year or can he bounce back? Porter should be fine when he's on the court, but how many games can he realistically play?

For me that much unknown when you have a core like they have means I can't give you a good grade. I think there is a bit of hubris in the front office thinking we built this team once we'll just do it again post Steph/Draymond/Klay and maybe they do, but I think that's so unlikely. The reality is in a few years when those guys are gone are post-prime these young lottery picks are very unlikely to be ready to carry a good team. Especially since they will all have to be paid if they pan out. I think this concept of a bridge to the future is a false hope.

I'd have converted it all. And while others make good points that maybe a star wasn't available(I don't care about that, they have 2 stars already) and we can't know specifically what vets were available, we do know deals were available for their assets. Always are, always will be for picks of that caliber.

You have Steph freaking Curry and Draymond freaking Green showing they still had it. Don't waste that. Don't worry about 2024.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Obviously this all changes if they are able to make a trade for a difference maker, but yeah this isn’t a real contender and they stockpiled assets instead of improving now.

[eminence]

Pretty meh overall from me, just don’t directionally agree. Draft value was good, love Steph being locked up.

The problem isn’t necessarily the guys on the roster, if we just played the 11 guys listed earlier I think it’d be pretty nice - I like Poole well enough as the backup guard. But the issue is having to play the youth instead of the decent vet depth, it’ll cost us a fair number of games. Wiseman is the main culprit here, as the #2 pick going into year 2 there’s no way the FO doesn’t get him 20+ mpg.

[gswhoops]

I would echo a lot of what's already been said here. I'm frustrated that our front office isn't trying to win championships in the prime years of the most important player in franchise history. And it's not even just the lack of a splashy "third star" move (although that would be nice). Without knowing what was out there, it's hard to get mad at the FO for not going out and getting Beal or whoever. The one deal we know was out there (Wiggins/Wiseman/7/14/2 future 1sts for Simmons), I'm glad we passed.

But there are a lot of smaller opportunities that the FO has let go unused that could have made a real difference. We haven't used the MLE two years running. We let the DPE expire. We let Oubre walk for nothing. Teams that are trying to win championships maximize every opportunity and every roster spot, especially when you are devoting 2-3 roster spots to young guys who won't contribute immediately. We seem to be content following the path of least resistance and just hoping that Klay's return, a couple vet min projects, and internal development are enough to make us a contender again, which feels like a bad bet.

I like most of the individual moves we made this offseason. I hate that we still don't have a real starting caliber 5 or a veteran backup PG. This team feels like settling for a low playoff seed and a first/second round bounce, which is a huge disservice to a player of Steph's caliber and importance to the franchise.

[gswhoops]

What is the alternative to the “having your cake and eat it”? The trade market isn’t really flush with stars and the few that are/were available would be either not worth it or bad fits.

Yeah. Any big move that above posters want would mean trading Wiggins, so at best a sideways move. And then who was even available that they should have traded for?

Wiggins was a nice surprise this year, but trading him for someone like Simmons would absolutely not be a "sideways move." Wiggins is a good starter making superstar money. Simmons is a multi-time All-Star and one of the best defenders in the game.

About having to rely too much on youth, without Kuminga/Moody/Wiseman, they still have:

Curry
Klay
Dray
Wiggins
Looney
Iguadala
Belly
Porter
Lee
Poole
JTA

It's an A from this Warriors fan. And it's not mentioned here, but they also beefed up the coaching staff with Atkinson and Mahlalela from Toronto.

This list looks fine if you assume the best case scenario for everyone. But you've got major question marks about basically every veteran on that list aside from Curry (and to a lesser extent Draymond). What happens if Klay's recovery goes slower than expected or he's just not the same player after two devastating injuries? What happens if (when) Otto misses time? What happens if Bjelica and Iggy are just washed?

There's a lot of upside in this group if everything goes right, but a LOT of downside as well.

[5paceman]

What is the alternative to the “having your cake and eat it”? The trade market isn’t really flush with stars and the few that are/were available would be either not worth it or bad fits.

Yeah. Any big move that above posters want would mean trading Wiggins, so at best a sideways move. And then who was even available that they should have traded for?

Wiggins was a nice surprise this year, but trading him for someone like Simmons would absolutely not be a "sideways move." Wiggins is a good starter making superstar money. Simmons is a multi-time All-Star and one of the best defenders in the game.

About having to rely too much on youth, without Kuminga/Moody/Wiseman, they still have:

Curry
Klay
Dray
Wiggins
Looney
Iguadala
Belly
Porter
Lee
Poole
JTA

It's an A from this Warriors fan. And it's not mentioned here, but they also beefed up the coaching staff with Atkinson and Mahlalela from Toronto.

This list looks fine if you assume the best case scenario for everyone. But you've got major question marks about basically every veteran on that list aside from Curry (and to a lesser extent Draymond). What happens if Klay's recovery goes slower than expected or he's just not the same player after two devastating injuries? What happens if (when) Otto misses time? What happens if Bjelica and Iggy are just washed?

There's a lot of upside in this group if everything goes right, but a LOT of downside as well.

Yeah, with all those question marks it makes more sense to me to not do anything drastic. It could be the case Klay isn't ready or more injuries happen. And every team could get injuries.

If we assume the worst, we will want to play all those young guys a lot. We can always trade them down the line if we need to or things don't work out.

[WAKEANT]

.

Indeed. Even though I'm always right , it's much more interesting when there is difference of opinion.

But for me it comes down to one basic concept -- if you have an MVP level player except in very unique circumstances I want you to be trying hard to win. And not only does GSW have that MVP level player in Curry coming off a great year, they also have DPOY level player coming off a great year--and these are proven playoff killers.

And they are both nearing the end of their prime. Time is ticking, ticking. And as you will see when Dallas comes up, I'm quite frustrated with them doing essentially nothing to upgrade the roster and their near MVP level player is a kid and just signed his extension. So if I'm bothered Dallas isn't maximizing the Luka window....

Poole may work out. But I'd want another guy who creates more for others. Looney is a fine 18 mpg center. But he's not a quality starting center. Not imo---I know Warriors fans love this guy.

Just way too many questions marks. Klay the biggest one, but can Wiggins do that again or is he going to revert back to who he always was before? Can all those young guys forced into bigger roles last year give even more this year? Can either of the draft picks or Wiseman give the team any positive play at all? All 3 min FA's are players I like, but all come with major concerns. What does Iggy have left? Was Bjelica done last year or can he bounce back? Porter should be fine when he's on the court, but how many games can he realistically play?

For me that much unknown when you have a core like they have means I can't give you a good grade. I think there is a bit of hubris in the front office thinking we built this team once we'll just do it again post Steph/Draymond/Klay and maybe they do, but I think that's so unlikely. The reality is in a few years when those guys are gone are post-prime these young lottery picks are very unlikely to be ready to carry a good team. Especially since they will all have to be paid if they pan out. I think this concept of a bridge to the future is a false hope.

I'd have converted it all. And while others make good points that maybe a star wasn't available(I don't care about that, they have 2 stars already) and we can't know specifically what vets were available, we do know deals were available for their assets. Always are, always will be for picks of that caliber.

You have Steph freaking Curry and Draymond freaking Green showing they still had it. Don't waste that. Don't worry about 2024.

Not a good play to mortgage the future for a maybe, questionable fits, or lateral moves. A lot of star players are resistant or have trouble playing the GSW style of offense (split-action). It will greater later.... or not as long as people think.

[ecuhus1981]

I get the tepid reception to GSW's offseason. I think that, given their luxury tax situation, they were appropriately conservative.

I agree that Davion made sense with their lineup, BUT it seems clear to me that they want to keep the ball in Poole's hands in the 2nd unit. Also, my guess is that they thought 18yo Kuminga would be a more attractive trade asset than 22yo Mitchell. Now, that trade never materialized, but I can't judge them too harshly for that.

[DroseReturnChi]

i think kchile nailed it. they wasted their picks on unfulfilled potential but at least they got steph to waste his prime or dispose him later for a warchest of picks.

[DroseReturnChi]

I would echo a lot of what's already been said here. I'm frustrated that our front office isn't trying to win championships in the prime years of the most important player in franchise history. And it's not even just the lack of a splashy "third star" move (although that would be nice). Without knowing what was out there, it's hard to get mad at the FO for not going out and getting Beal or whoever. The one deal we know was out there (Wiggins/Wiseman/7/14/2 future 1sts for Simmons), I'm glad we passed.

But there are a lot of smaller opportunities that the FO has let go unused that could have made a real difference. We haven't used the MLE two years running. We let the DPE expire. We let Oubre walk for nothing. Teams that are trying to win championships maximize every opportunity and every roster spot, especially when you are devoting 2-3 roster spots to young guys who won't contribute immediately. We seem to be content following the path of least resistance and just hoping that Klay's return, a couple vet min projects, and internal development are enough to make us a contender again, which feels like a bad bet.

I like most of the individual moves we made this offseason. I hate that we still don't have a real starting caliber 5 or a veteran backup PG. This team feels like settling for a low playoff seed and a first/second round bounce, which is a huge disservice to a player of Steph's caliber and importance to the franchise.

shocking a warriors fan would have this kind of take its hard to follow the team when they arent following your orders.
i know steph's limitations well they need to surround talent close to 2015 level for a last dance.
the warriors they are a bottom 5 talent evaluators ever since jerry west left idk why they are pretending to be great and even if all their picks were all stars, your trading present for future steph is what doing kobe tour and retire?

the individual moves means nothing if they are on the wrong direction. one good move isnt going to change the entire franchise and even terrible gms make good moves once a yr.