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Throughout the offseason, the dominant thought has been that the Warriors were looking for a successful trade to add another star to their championship core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Ben Simmons, Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard have all been offered as potential targets for Golden State in the run-up to the NBA Draft. But the draft came and went, and the Warriors stayed at No.7 and No.14, selecting Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
In fact, owner Joe Lacob is adamant that the Warriors aren’t as obsessed with trading for another superstar as the media and fan narrative suggests, and that such a move is unlikely. either in the cards for Golden State.
“And I know it’s not popular with a lot of people,” Lacob told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “They think we should go get the next star. We already have the stars. And we have a payroll that is – and I said that when I was interviewed before, but no one listened. is very unlikely, I said we weren’t going to trade for anyone that people expect. Very unlikely. It’s not impossible. But if it had to be someone, it was going to be someone really great . This was going to be a big deal. It’s unlikely. “
Lacob knows time is running out on the Curry-Thompson-Green window, but he also knows the Warriors need to plan for their lives beyond the Championship core. Adding Kuminga and Moody to James Wiseman, the second overall pick of 2020, is a good way to start planning for the next step.
“So the most likely path – and the path that I think, as an owner, I feel most comfortable with, quite frankly – is to bridge the gap to the future,” Lacob told Slater. “We have three or four contracts and some big players who are still in their early 30s still have a lot of time to play, especially nowadays. If we can kind of have a Wiseman and a Kuminga and a Moody and a Poole (help in the meantime). They don’t have to be great next year. With a big investment in our player development team, we just want them to show great potential. “
RELATED: The Warriors ‘Vision For Kuminga Follows Giannis’ Plan
Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers has been candid about the team’s place in the NBA title photo after selecting Kuminga and Moody, who will both turn 19 next season.
Myers knows the Warriors will need to add free agency veterans to fill the gaps in their roster, and Thompson’s return will be key to whether Golden State can be considered a legitimate contender for the championship next season.
“I think it’s mostly about Klay, which it can be,” Myers told reporters Thursday. “Not ‘on him’, but with a healthy Klay Thompson we’re there with everyone. But I don’t know if, when, how – I expect him to come back healthy. . I don’t want to put pressure on the date because it won’t be at the start of the season, it won’t be the first game. But we really need one of our top two or three players to be there. one of our top two or three. “
As rumors about Simmons, Beal, and Lillard swirl, the Warriors are content to move forward with the stars they have, simultaneously trying to fight for a title while preparing for the post-Curry era.
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