Chuck's Team of the Day, June 21 - Golden State Warriors

[loserX]

As part of our continuing series, and to provide avenues for proposals and discussion, we are going to be nominating "Teams of the Day" every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until we've cycled through all 30 teams. It's nothing formal, just a chance to pick a team and ask: how would you run their offseason?

Do they need any additions to the front office? What should their outlook be for 2016-17? How should they approach the draft, and trades, and free agency?

With apologies to Bay Area fans*, today's team is the Golden State Warriors, a team who accomplished everything...until they ran into the twin towers of LeBron, and Cleveland's destiny. Here's one take; additions are in bold.

(*Sorry if I'm pushing on fresh bruises, GSW fans...certainly not my intent! We just really want to get these done before draft day on Thursday, and a 7-game series means we're out of time )

FRONT OFFICE/OUTLOOK

No sense in going too deep into a recap here. Sunday hurts, but this is still a phenomenal, historically good team that missed out on their ultimate goal by five whole points. No one in the front office is going anywhere, nor should they. They know exactly what they're doing.

ROSTER

Lacob promised he would be aggressive this offseason...I'm not sure that's really necessary (if the Warriors had all been at 100%, who knows?) but the team's hand is going to be a bit forced by their free agency situation. As of this moment, they only have 7 players under contract for next season, and with everything they've been through, depth should be a priority.

The cap is going up, which will help us with the tax but not so much with capspace (Ezeli and Barnes have FA holds that actually put us back over the cap, so we can't even really take advantage of Bird rights).

DRAFT

We have the #30 pick and no second rounders. There are a lot of stash-worthy international players available, but we could use cheap depth if we find someone who can contribute anything. I'd like to go with Caris Levert, a 6'7" combo guard that we can hopefully develop into the next Shaun Livingston, able to learn from the first Shaun Livingston. He needs to put on weight and to be better at creating for himself, but he still can contribute, and as an upperclassman is less raw than most. I trust Kerr and co. to get the best out of him.

FREE AGENCY/TRADE

We need to bring back Ezeli...he's young and he's big so it'll cost us, but Bogut's increasingly inconsistent availability means we need someone who can start, and it's unlikely we'll find a suitable replacement who will sign for what we can offer.

Barnes is a different matter. He's young and still has some potential, but he was underwhelming at crucial moments and he's about to get paid. With our depth issues we can spend that money better.

Warriors trade Barnes S&T and Kevon Looney for PJ Tucker, Quincy Pondexter, Toney Douglas and Alexis Ajinca
Pelicans trade Pondexter, Ajinca, Douglas, Tyreke Evans and 2017 first round pick for Barnes and Brandon Knight
Suns trade Tucker and Knight for Evans, Looney, and Pelicans' 2017 first round pick

Facing down a choice of overpaying Barnes or watching him walk, the Warriors pick door #3: a trade that brings back two tough 3&D wings, a combo guard to replace Barbosa, and a depth C. Looney is still tantalizing but *another* injury/surgery/recovery means his value is minimal especially to GSW. This isn't a star package, but Tucker is a great replacement, and we can't call someone's bluff if they try to sign Barnes outright anyway.

The Pelicans pick up better fits for the Gentry offence, a combo forward and a combo guard. Knight fits well, and Barnes never played better than when he was playing in Gentry's system in Oakland. They could light it up with AD, it's certainly worth a try.

The Suns pick up some youth pieces for Tucker, and swap Knight's long 6th-man contract for Evans' shorter one. (His drive-and-kick game may actually mesh with Booker well.) The Evans/Knight swap can be left out of the trade if the teams prefer, but I did see a fan of each team show some interest in another thread.

We could use some more legit size at the 4. We've stayed over the cap through all this, which means we get the whole MLE; we can spend a chunk of it on a great fit: David West. Tough as nails but knows how to tame that fire...should be a good influence on Dray. He can pass a bit and play in the pick-and-pop game. And if it hurts the Spurs? So much the better. There aren't many places he can leave the Spurs for and have a *better* chance at a title, but this might be one of them. A little extra cash thrown at old friend Anthony Tolliver puts back a little extra shooting up front.

FINAL ROSTER

Ezeli/Bogut/Ajinca
Green/West/Tolliver
Tucker/Iguodala
K. Thompson/Pondexter/Levert
Curry/Livingston/Douglas

There aren't many big changes but I don't think we need many. By adding West and Tucker and Pondexter, we just got tough...no one is going to beat us by going ugly any more.

Thoughts? Did I go far enough? Should Iggy or Bogut be on the block? Comments welcome, or host your own ToD thread

[bwgood77]

I like the Suns part.

[GQ Hot Dog]

Ezeli is just not fit to be a starter and certainly not for a team as good as we are. He's also somehow more injury prone than Bogut which boggles the mind. When I hear that Lacob plans on being aggressive I interpret that as going after a big time FA. KD is the obvious target but I think he will very quickly resign in OKC. Our biggest position of need isn't SF no matter how bad Barnes is, it's at C. Bogut's durability will get rapidly more questionable as he gets well into his 30s. I would figure out who wants to be a part of the Warriors more: Whiteside or Biyombo, and sign that guy right away. We can offer a roughly 4 year, $70 mil deal which is a lot closer to what Biyombo is supposed to get than Whiteside.

Truthfully in a lot of ways I prefer Biyombo. Everything I read says he's more intelligent and thoughtful than your average NBA player and that fits well with our culture. Whiteside is known as a guy who has struggled with his emotions and with learning the team system and that won't work with us.

At this point I'm willing to outright renounce both Barnes and Ezeli and trade Bogut for a pick or maybe nothing. This would give us some $27mil in capspace and allow us to sign one starter in FA and at one or two roleplayers for depth.

We draft a 3 and D wing at #30 which replaces Barnes and there you go.

[DreDay]

There is no shape or form where Ezeli is a starter. He does nothing at an average level apart from being athletic. If I'm GSW, I renounce Barnes and Ezeli, even if we can't get someone like Biyombo/Whiteside/Batum. There's no point committing that much money to them when in 2017 they will have a lot of cap room to play with in a deep FA class to retool.

I'm content with keeping Rush for the year, getting someone like Dudley/Tucker/Matt Barnes at SF and rolling with that for the year. Use that draft pick on a wing who can shoot and hope he pans out.

[Warriorfan]

GS would be getting a great return for Barnes in the above deal. Though I think Looney is valued by organization.

GS needs would be back up rim protector, post scorer for when jumpers fail, 3rd string vet PG,

Pick should be a player who can contribute now as 3 pt shooter or defender prefer both.

Rest should be instant offense ring chasing vets which GS should be able to get since they are title favorites.

I think GS will be aggressive and try to S&T Barnes Ezelli to get large TPE, to bring in all star level Free Agent via S&T.

[jpengland]

They don't need to make huge changes. People calling for a blow up are exceptionally wide of the mark. Things need tweaking.

I think the ideas of sign and trading people are wide of the mark, there is that much cap space going round, I don't think there will be much option to do so.

Free agents:
Barnes - let him walk
Ezeli - let him walk
Speights - let him walk
Barbosa - Return on vet min
Rush - return on vet min
Livingston - take team option
McAdoo - vet min
Varejao - walk
Clark - walk

15m cap space.

Draft:

Thon Maker at #30

Buy a deep second rounder and pick up Ron Baker - I can't talk enough how much of perfect fit he is, senior who plays scrappy, smart defense and can knock down the jumper. He could break the rotation for GSW straight away IMO.

Free Agency:

Jared Dudley - See if he will take a multi year deal at 8m to win a championship. Combo forward, smart vet, knock down shooter.
Marvin Williams - 7m

Room MLE - Miles Plumlee - athleticism and defense.

Trade:

Looney, Future draft pick and cash for Kyle O'Quinn if at all possible. Hopefully there is a trade exception available from one of the free agents.


Curry/Livingston/Barbosa
Thompson/Ron Baker/Rush
Iggy/Marvin Williams
Draymond/Jared Dudley/McAdoo/Thon Maker
Bogut/Kyle O'Quinn/Miles Plumlee


Plenty of size and athleticism at the 4/5 to provide rim protection, added 3 point shooting from the bench, veteran leadership in Dudley and Williams for the second unit.

[BayArea408415]

We need to bring back Ezeli...he's young and he's big so it'll cost us, but Bogut's increasingly inconsistent availability means we need someone who can start, and it's unlikely we'll find a suitable replacement who will sign for what we can offer.

1. Ezeli is not starter quality
2. His playoff performance and Game 7 Finals mistakes were more than costly to us. He should be shipped out.
3. He's not worth the money he will likely command and we don't want him back after what he did for us.

If he was our starter....

[reload141]

I personally think they need to let Ezeli go S&T Barnes for more depth like you said and go and make an offer to Noah... If this series proved anything it's that Bogut is so vital for their success come playoff time. Split the minutes between Bogut/Noah so both stay healthy and Noah is just the PERFECT match for them. Defense, energy, rebounds, PASSING. They really need another big that can pass and he fits the mold.

[Laimbeer]

I would find this terribly depressing as a Warrior fan. Basically regressing by replacing Barnes with Tucker. West isn't a great fit and what does he have left anyway?

[QRich3]

I think letting go of either Ezeli or Barnes would be a mistake unless there's some unlikely development like Durant wanting to go there (which I very much doubt). Instead of fixating in those guys limitations and flaws, start thinking of who you can realistically replace them with. I'd much rather have Ezeli and Barnes than Tucker and Ajinca, and I don't think you can get West for the MLE, let alone part of it. If he's gonna continue to take paycuts, it's gonna be with the Spurs. Tolliver is a nice add though.

I think people underestimate Barnes, and specially the way he allows for Green to play C successfully. I don't see many players that will allow for that line up to work on both ends, and the ones that can, are likely gonna be out of their price range. He's gonna be overpaid, but with his age and his size, and the cap still rising, you'd be able to dump him for capspace in the future if needed be.

If I'm them, I'd just stay the course, re-sign Barnes and Ezeli and draft a guy like Brogdon or Bembry who can plug a hole here and there. Feel the market for Speights and Barbosa's replacements in FA, and if nothing better comes around, re-sign them again. They won 73 games and lost game 7 in the Finals by 4 points. Any drastic change would be outsmarting themselves.

[tmorgan]

Ezeli is a close call, but Barnes is not. He's not worth the contract he's going to get. I agree that S&T's are extremely unlikely in this cap climate, though. Might just need to show him the door.

The Warriors haven't gotten many ring chasers yet (Varejao, I guess), but they can if they want to. That might be the direction to go after letting a number of players go that are overpriced... Barnes, maybe Ezeli, Speights.

[loserX]

Thanks for the comments, everyone...I had no idea Ezeli's status had fallen *that* far!

I agree he's questionable as a starter on a great team, though I'm surprised to see a couple of people prefer Biyombo. Bizmack's offence is so bad I'm not sure he's a starter on *any* team, and he'll certainly gum up the works in Kerr's system, and he may not come cheap either.

Renouncing everyone still isn't going to be enough to add a prime FA, but it could work if Bogut or Iggy is also moved. Whiteside would be an amazing fit if that happens but then the rest of the roster is going to be filled with scraps. Fortunately a titan like GSW should have little problem attracting ring chasers!

[Texas Chuck]

I don't mind this nearly as much as others. I'd still have Bogut be the nominal starter because despite his inability to stay healthy, he's still a much better player than Ezeli. David West is a great signing and I love the Tolliver/Douglas deep depth additions. I think they work in Kerr's system and both guys are used to having erratic roles. I wish you could have found a way to keep Barbosa because the guard depth seems a little thin with Pondexter out of position there. But other than that I don't mind this at all as long as Exeli isn't making stupid money.

[GQ Hot Dog]

Thanks for the comments, everyone...I had no idea Ezeli's status had fallen *that* far!

I agree he's questionable as a starter on a great team, though I'm surprised to see a couple of people prefer Biyombo. Bizmack's offence is so bad I'm not sure he's a starter on *any* team, and he'll certainly gum up the works in Kerr's system, and he may not come cheap either.

Renouncing everyone still isn't going to be enough to add a prime FA, but it could work if Bogut or Iggy is also moved. Whiteside would be an amazing fit if that happens but then the rest of the roster is going to be filled with scraps. Fortunately a titan like GSW should have little problem attracting ring chasers!

If you've watched enough of him this season and in the playoffs, Biyombo has turned the corner offensively. His hands have improved dramatically, he's a reliable and fearsome finisher at the rim and he's even adding a little jumpshot. His passing isn't great but he's still improving and he's a better passer than Whiteside.

Ezeli, otoh, may indeed be the worst finisher in the NBA. His jump hook, which he shoots at maybe a 20% clip is actually more reliable than his finishing at the rim. Literally the only shots Ezeli can be counted on to make are uncontested dunks and layups.

I don't know how much Ezeli is going to command in FA but Biyombo is worth twice as much. Contrast what he did against Lebron in the playoffs when Lebron couldn't get rid of the ball fast enough when Biyombo was switched on him vs. how badly Lebron roasted Ezeli. It's not even close.

[loserX]

If you've watched enough of him this season and in the playoffs, Biyombo has turned the corner offensively. His hands have improved dramatically, he's a reliable and fearsome finisher at the rim and he's even adding a little jumpshot. His passing isn't great but he's still improving and he's a better passer than Whiteside.

I'm not a Raps fan, but I live in Canada so I get to see their games plenty. I still think his offence blows

He had a fine playoffs against Cleveland, but I worry that he's going to get Jerome James'ed. Buyer beware, that's all I'm saying!

[GQ Hot Dog]

If you've watched enough of him this season and in the playoffs, Biyombo has turned the corner offensively. His hands have improved dramatically, he's a reliable and fearsome finisher at the rim and he's even adding a little jumpshot. His passing isn't great but he's still improving and he's a better passer than Whiteside.

I'm not a Raps fan, but I live in Canada so I get to see their games plenty. I still think his offence blows

He had a fine playoffs against Cleveland, but I worry that he's going to get Jerome James'ed. Buyer beware, that's all I'm saying!

If finding a legit big who can grab the toughest rebounds comes down to Ezeli or Biyombo...it's gotta be Biyombo. The guy is a monster. The way he man-handled and intimidated Lebron was awe-inspiring. I also hear he's a very thoughtful and intelligent guy which is an important consideration for us because of our particular team chemistry. We're not the thuggish-ruggish We Believe Warriors anymore.

[babyjax13]

The Warriors' centers got exposed by Cleveland and to a lesser extent, OKC. Bogut is still very good, but Speights and Ezeli are very situational, and you don't want situational players to be your starter (OKC has the same problems with Roberson and Waiters). Lucky for their salary situation, Barnes also got exposed badly. I'd like to see them try to make a move for a good post player like Al Horford. But if they simply look to tinker and add depth this is about as good as you could hope for.

[Warriorfan]

The Warriors' centers got exposed by Cleveland and to a lesser extent, OKC. Bogut is still very good, but Speights and Ezeli are very situational, and you don't want situational players to be your starter (OKC has the same problems with Roberson and Waiters). Lucky for their salary situation, Barnes also got exposed badly. I'd like to see them try to make a move for a good post player like Al Horford. But if they simply look to tinker and add depth this is about as good as you could hope for.

Horford would be a great fit especially death squad but his rebound numbers have been around 7 per game since they adapted an offense similar to GS. Plus I'd prefer a guy who is 1and1 contract wise or younger to fit with the rest of the core