Originally compiled from: The Athletic
Written by Tim Kawakami
原标题：Kawakami: Warriors aren’t breaking up the core, but Jordan Poole isn’t part of it
The Battle of the Lakes is over, the Warriors dynasty has ushered in a cloudy future, and Poole, who is at the center of public opinion, may no longer be in the Golden State plan
The Warriors have no plans to rebuild
The Warriors don't plan to rebuild, restructure, make, or redefine who they are. You can feel the messages pouring out of Stephen Curry, Drummond Green, Klay Thompson, and Steve Kerr in the sadness, frustration, loss, anger and exhaustion of late Friday night.
But what other Warriors players fit the characteristics of this era? After the ups and downs of the season, the Warriors may soon get a very practical and very narrow new answer.
After being eliminated by the Lakers 101-122 in Game 6, they don't have full control over the future of this dynasty, but Curry, Drummond, Klay and Kerr all expressed their views so directly and believably after the game that I believe them. They spent many seasons giving us reason to choose to believe in them in these moments. I always believe in them.
The Warriors won't be going into a rebuild. Their story doesn't end there. But there will be some changes. There must be some changes outside the core lineup. With Drummond and the Warriors beginning contract extension talks, and Andrew Wiggins, Kevin Rooney, and possibly Gary Payton II deemed capable of making the roster, Moses Moody looks solid in the series, so the team will build a base lineup based on these seven players.
Poole's future is in doubt
But what about Jordan Poole? And What about Jonathan Kuminga? These are unknowns. I think at least one of these two very talented players has a good chance of being traded in July. Yes, and perhaps it's a little interesting that after a season of questioning whether this is the "last dance" of this aging dynasty, now that the Warriors' championship-level defense is gone, they may be engaged in a reverse youth movement that continues to focus on aging cornerstone players.
The Warriors have won four championships in this era, including last season, and they may not finish fifth anytime soon. But if Joe Lacob is on par with these four leaders, I guess he will, and the Warriors won't be bulldled from top to bottom.
"We'll fix these issues," Drummond said. "This team is already great. We have also done our best. But things didn't work out perfectly. ”
Miles' stay was hugely impactful
If Drummond stays, will Bob Myers stay too? That's another issue, but it's all up to Myers, whose contract expires in July. My opinion, which I've often expressed over the past few months, still needs to be emphasized: I don't think Myers will be the first to leave Curry, who is still in his prime, and I trust Curry will make sure Myers understands how much he is appreciated. Especially from Curry's affirmation. It's still possible for Miles to find new opportunities, I just don't think it's easy for them to say goodbye.
The Warriors' roster has to change
Well, even if they still maintain a core roster, the Warriors haven't been good enough this season and have proven themselves in different ways, from Drummond's poor atmosphere after playing Poole at training camp, to their poor road record, to their poor performance in Game 6 of the first-round series, forcing the Warriors to exhaust in Game 7 in Sacramento to finally reach the second round,...... It led to a loss to the Lakers at Chase Center two days later, a loss that set the tone for the overall defeat of the series that followed.
The Warriors weren't enough to beat LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They don't have enough depth to fight Austin Reeves, Dennis Schroeder and Lonnie Walker. So, how can the Warriors be good enough next season? Add to that the fact that they could lose DiVincenzo, who became a free agent, and new salary regulations will further limit their squad.
Cole's thoughts on Poole and Kuminga
They will either get more cohesion and output from Poole, Kuminga, and perhaps Patrick Baldwin Jr., or they can bring in cohesive reinforcements from elsewhere. The easiest way for them to increase their talent is to trade Poole or Kuminga, or both. They are all valuable and valuable parts of the abandoned Two-Line Plan. Poole's playing time was cut because he shot just 34.1 percent from the field in the playoffs and averaged just 10.3 points per game. Kuminga was given several chances in the series against Sacramento, but in this series, he was completely excluded from the rotation.
After Cole's post-match press conference, I asked him if he understood why Poole and Kuminga might be disappointed and how he would handle the situation in the future.
"Life is like that," Cole told me. "I don't mind being frustrated at all. I want them to be frustrated, I want them to compete, work hard and do better for next year. Their time is coming. You can see it in Moses. Moses had a breakthrough. In the last few weeks of the season, I watched his training every day. You can see it in the playoffs. He was the first to scramble for offensive rebounds, the first to actively run off the ball, so he entered the rotation early. All the things we preached, he finally began to insist on. That's why he's in the playoffs. But these things don't happen overnight. They are all very critical.
"This is what coaches see on video every day. But this is something that the average fan can't really decipher. But that's what we do. Young players just need time. I have no doubt that the way they work and how focused they are, they will all get better and they will grow. But the time is not yet ripe. ”
Young people have failed to live up to expectations
Over the past two seasons, Kerr has given Poole a lot of playing time, and Poole has sometimes rewarded Poole with explosive and creative offensive performances. But this season, their relationship has been even more confusing, starting with the emotional trauma of Drummond's punch and all the turmoil in the locker room. Is Drummond wrong? Sure. But he also managed to win back the approval of his teammates and played well throughout the season. And Poole never fully got into form and was at his worst in the playoffs.
The Warriors are pragmatists. They make decisions based on their performance on the pitch. What wins the game. What wins the series. Who can fit Curry. They need Poole and Kuminga (before that, James Wiseman was traded in February) to take on heavy responsibilities this season. In the Lakers' series, it's clear that there are many holes. Cole could have done more before the Lakers series, allowing Kuminga to metamorphosis completely, but he reasonably pointed to Moody's rapid progress at the end of the season. That's how Kerr coaches and how young players earn respect and playing time for the Warriors. This is what he has always insisted on. No one gets playing time for nothing.
I asked Cole: Are you disappointed that you haven't got the youngsters more involved in this series and this season?
"Nope. No," Cole said. "These guys are too young. I always say, you look at Moses, he was supposed to be a junior at the University of Arkansas. Kuminga should also be a junior. Do you think Stephen Curry and Drummond helped an NBA team win a championship during their juniors at Davidson University and Michigan State University? Of course not. That's not the case.
"For kids with so little experience, progress in the NBA can't be fully realized in two years. It just won't. It's very rare for a really young player to make a big impact in the NBA playoffs. I think Kuminga, Moses and Jordan were really invested and really improved. Their time is coming. But we need to take longer to think about whether we can throw them on the field and expect them to win a series like this. This is not going to happen. ”
Salary space limits the Warriors' room to maneuver
Is it unfair that Poole, Kuminga and Moody (and Wiseman) were asked to meet championship standards from the moment they arrived? Perhaps the same could be said in the context of other teams in the NBA. But the Warriors of this era are not these so-called other teams. The reason they win so much is because they have different, stricter, higher standards.
Of course, there will also be big problems with the team's salary, and the team's total budget for next season will exceed $400 million, which is the line that Lacob has said he will not cross, and before this elimination. Poole will receive $27.5 million next season, the first of a four-year, $123 million contract he signed last October, just weeks later. If Drummond signs any contract close to $30 million, other budgets will have to be scaled. Poole also has some value in the league. Maybe not as much as when he signed his contract, but the Warriors paid that price in part because they knew Poole had trade value.
I think the Warriors will see the demand for Poole. They need a stronger backup defender. They need someone who can score. They missed a "change of defense," as Curry described, facing the Lakers' double-deck defense, defending the outside and then having Davis sit in the box. The Warriors need someone who can stir the court. Maybe they can trade Poole for a cheaper role that can meet both conditions.
I don't think they'll be interested in trading Kuminga, who might want to be told he's going to play a bigger role next season. Kerr doesn't value the promise of playing time, but I think the Warriors could discuss having Kuminga replace Anthony Lamb in the role of sixth or seventh man next season. I think they need to keep Kuminga because the Warriors need more talent, not less. (Unless they can pair Poole and Kuminga together for a fringe All-Star, like the Raptors' OG Anunoby.) )
But the Warriors could consider trading Poole and Kuminga because the core lineup will stay, as so far, Poole and Kuminga haven't really integrated into the core. While the main players are getting older, and while they haven't been enough to beat LeBron and Davis, Curry, Klay and Drummond are good enough to pull generals out of the dwarf this season — from making the playoffs to beating the Kings, they're still essential players for the Warriors.
The warriors have to make a choice
Now is not the time to rebuild.
"No matter how different it seems, I think we all understand each other and what we can bring," Curry said of himself, Drummond and Klay. "I believe we will continue to compete until the end of time. This should not be taken for granted in the Union. We have proven that we can do it. Even though things looked bleak in this series, or this year, or at some point in the regular season, we kept trying to clear the way and get out of the way in the second series.
"We will continue to fight, we will continue to compete, we will continue to believe in each other. The squad goes up and down, and I hope you have confidence in us and believe in our ability to lead the team. I think it's a two-way path, it's the way we have to go in our careers, and we're going to continue to redouble our efforts in that area. ”
Then I asked Curry a long question about the Warriors' young players — what did he think about their development, was he disappointed with Poole and Kuminga's outsider performances in this series, and what he thought would happen next?
"There's a lot of stuff in there," Curry said with a shrug. "I think everybody is going to get better, everybody is going to take the next step... I don't know how the opportunity will come. I don't know how the list is arranged. I don't know what we're going to be like sitting here right now, waiting for NBA opening night, and who's going to be asked to do what. ...”
"It's hard to say exactly what it will look like now because this alliance is crazy and things are going to change very quickly."
This league changes quickly, but the Warriors won't change much in the offseason, even if they lose their first Western Conference playoff game since Kerr joined. They have to get better.
They have to keep the best parts of themselves. They may trade one or two players who can perform better elsewhere.