The Golden State Warriors have had an interesting summer, watching franchise legend Klay Thompson walk to the Dallas Mavericks and replace him with a cast of veterans from around the NBA. The team was linked to all-Star forwards Paul George and Lauri Markkanen but a trade was never completed. GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. revealed why they didn’t overpay for George or Markkanen while speaking to a group of reporters.
“There’s no point in going all in to be slightly above average… We’re probably as impatient as you can be as a franchise right now given our time horizon. But there’s a fine line between impatience and undisciplined,”
Both the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz asked for a boatload of assets from the Warriors for their star wings. Knowing that the Warriors lost Klay Thompson likely forced these teams into asking for more than what the Warriors will be willing to pay, trying to maximize value from a franchise that’s reeling after two rough seasons.
The Warriors elected to use their cap relief to sign role players and not take big-money salaries on in their first season outside the luxury tax in almost 10 years. Both George and Markkanen have long-term contracts with their current franchises now, so the Warriors will have to hope their current roster does well, otherwise, we might see them pivot to overpaying a different wing at some point this season.
Will The Warriors Regret Passing On George And Markkanen?
The Warriors need an injection of star talent next to 36-year-old Stephen Curry to be competitive in the West this season. They missed the Playoffs with Klay last season and it’s hard to say that adding Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and De’Anthony Melton will help them improve enough to be competitive in the West. They may fare better than 10th in the West, but it seems they’d have a second-round ceiling at best over them.
Every team in the West should be targeting 50 wins this season if they hope to make the Playoffs, as the Warriors became the best 10th seed in NBA history with 47 wins last season. The modern NBA almost necessitates for a player like Curry to have a co-star who could supplement his scoring with a 20-point average. They simply don’t have that.
The price for either George or Markkanen would have been too high, so the team elected to go in a different direction. But if they need reinforcements mid-season, there’s no guarantee that the price for any other wing like Brandon Ingram would be any cheaper. You can’t make a trade without accepting an offset in value, as winning now benefits you greatly.
Including both Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga in a trade for either should’ve been a non-negotiable, so the Warriors might have actually made the right move. Trading for Markkanen is excusable given his size, age, and scoring ability, but giving up that much for a 15-year veteran like George would have been questionable.
