The Warriors, the defending champions, have not been able to meet expectations this season, and at one point they played the worst defending championship away record in NBA history in the regular season, and their form did not seem to improve until the end of the season, and they eventually reached the playoffs as No. 6 in the West.
Facing the Kings in the first round of the playoffs, the Warriors played very hard, they were 0-2 down at one point, but in the end, with the heritage of their championship team and Curry's excellent play, they got through the danger, facing the Lakers in the divisional semifinals, although there are certain referee factors, but I have to say that the Warriors themselves are also very bad, Klay, Chasing Dreams are no longer at their peak, newcomers like Poole are embarrassed, and Curry's play alone has not prevented the Warriors from being out.
After being eliminated, the atmosphere inside the Warriors also looks very delicate, and the Warriors' locker room problem this season has not been solved since the start of the season Chasing Green punching Poole, Dream Green has been saying throughout the season that he wants to repair the relationship with Poole, but after the end of the season, Poole bluntly said in the press conference that he and Dream Chase have never had a special relationship, just colleagues who jointly pursue championships.
Kuminga is also the key to the Warriors' internal problems, and at the end of the regular season, especially during Wiggins' long absence due to family affairs, Kuminga once found a feeling, whether it was defensive efforts or offensive mid-range shots, it seemed to have developed in the direction of Leonard, but when Wiggins returned and entered the playoffs, Kuminga was completely activated by Kerr.
From important rotation positions to the end of the bench, Kuminga can't adapt to and can't accept his role change, he can't accept that he is deprived of playing time, and he has complained a lot in the locker room, and Kerr has also been cryptically critical of Kuminga's behavior when he recently appeared on the Dream Chasing podcast, Kerr said that looking at the Heat players, they never complain about whether they have more playing time, but are going all out to win.
But what Cole ignores is that Kuminga's current situation, as a high-pick young man, watching other players in the same class on the pitch, the big contract is about to arrive, but he is on the bench doing nothing, the expected big contract may also fail, how can the mentality not change. Kuminga looked a little frustrated about what happened to him in the team, and immediately after the team was out, news broke that Kuminga wanted more playing time and might apply to leave the team.
In addition to young people, the team's meritorious position in the team is also more embarrassing, Klay this season salary reached $40.6 million, but his performance with the Warriors this season obviously failed to match his salary, this season playoffs Klay averaged 18.5 points per game, shooting 39%, although the overall data is acceptable, but his large number of unreasonable shots make teammates very uncomfortable.
And in the final three games of the series with the Lakers, Klay combined only 19 points, James once chose to empty him defensively, and his slump was one of the key factors for the Warriors to get out. At present, Klay has 43.22 million in the final year of his contract with the Warriors, and how to deal with Klay's contract and his future is a trade, a salary reduction extension is a difficult choice for the Warriors.
The same is true for Dream Green, whose decline has been severe in recent seasons, with occasional returns, but more often the offense can only deal cards, the quality of defense has also dropped significantly, and his inaction on the offensive end has put a lot of pressure on the team. Dream Chase also has one year left on his contract with the Warriors.
However, he currently has a $27.59 million player option, and Dream has been publicly saying that he is willing to stay with the Warriors and the Warriors for the end of life, but his ability and his annual salary obviously do not match, so whether Dream Chase will jump out of the contract to seek a longer contract is his personal choice, and how the Warriors deal with Dream's contract is also a key decision for the team this summer.
At present, the situation of the Warriors is more embarrassing, the team is caught in the after-effects of the dynasty, the performance of veterans does not match their high salaries, and the growth of young players has not met expectations. Faced with this mess, general manager Miles chose to leave, and the new general manager of the Warriors has not yet been determined, but it is foreseeable that the Warriors may have a lot of action this summer, after all, in the case of huge problems and disagreements in the team's locker room, it is difficult for the team to continue to play with the same lineup.
But recently, Warriors reporter Tim Kawakami reported a more surprising news, im Kawakami said that the most likely scenario for the Warriors this summer is to maintain most of the players on the current roster for another season, which is what Curry wants, and Curry's opinion is very important. At the end of this season, the Warriors still have 12 guaranteed contract players in the roster, leaving only 3 guaranteed contract slots, plus the team still needs to be drafted, and the room for reinforcement is further compressed.
It is worth mentioning that next season, Poole's four-year $140 million contract will take effect, and the guaranteed salary of these 12 players in existence in the Warriors at this stage has exceeded $200 million, which means that the Warriors have almost no room for reinforcement, unless the owner is willing to continue to spend a lot of money to pursue an ethereal championship.
Of course, Tim Kawakami's report doesn't say anything to death, saying that the Warriors are likely to maintain most of the players on their current roster. But in any case, this summer's Warriors, after changing their general manager, will certainly not sit still.