How To Keep The Big 3 And Win Another Ring

It’s all part of the puzzle – Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy (quoted in “Can team fit familiar 3 pieces together?” [SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED], Ann Killion, SF Chronicle B1, Sunday 4/21

After the Warriors unceremonious loss to the Sacramento Kings last Tuesday in the Western Conference play in, uncertainty and speculation has been swirling around what the team will do in the off season to give themselves a chance to win again as the Steph Curry window closes.

Last Monday, on the eve of the play in game, I wrote “The Transcendent Steph Curry, The Great Klay Thompson And The Leader Draymond Green: Twilight Reflections On The Warriors Dynasty”. In that moment, I still had hope that the Warriors could make something of the season. Indeed, I made a long shot $125 bet on the Warriors to win the NBA Championship at 80 to 1. But after the Kings took it to them on Tuesday night, it was clear that the Warriors cannot win another championship with The Big 3 as their three best players. At the same time, nobody wants to see Klay Thompson or Draymond Green traded in the twilight of their careers. They should finish their careers as Warriors. But I just said they can’t win with them as their three best players. How do the puzzle pieces fit together?

Scott Ostler wrote a provocative article in Tuesday’s San Francisco Chronicle: “Consider the impossible: Is it time to trade Curry?” [SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED]. Ostler ponders whether the best thing for the Warriors and for Curry may be a trade. The Warriors could start rebuilding with a cache of draft picks and young prospects while Curry could go to a contender to take a shot at a fifth ring. But we all know that the Warriors are never going to trade Steph Curry. And they shouldn’t.

When the Warriors signed Kevin Durant after losing to Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, it was no surprise that they won the next two NBA Championships because they were so much more talented than any other team in the league. In fact, they routed an overmatched Cleveland 4-1 and 4-0 in the 2017 and 2018 Finals, respectively. They were essentially an All Star team.

The 2022 team, however, was a very good – but not great – team that won because Steph Curry proved once and for all that he is one of the greatest players of all time. Down 2-1 heading into Game 4 in Boston, the Warriors were on the brink when Curry put together the performance of his career, scoring 43 points and carrying the Warriors to victory (see “The Development Of Steph Curry Into His Generation’s Greatest Player”, Top Gun Financial, June 12, 2022). That game turned the momentum of the series in favor of the Warriors and they won the next two games to close it out 4-2.

While Steph may not be the best player in the NBA, I would argue that the 2022 championship showed that he should be the first guy you pick if you want to win a championship next season. The only other player in the league to put on a similar performance was when Lebron James led Cleveland to a championship over the superior Warriors in 2016. But Lebron is past his prime now. Steph is not. He still has a year or two left at his peak. And because he has nothing left to prove after 2022, he plays with the complete freedom that no other player in the league besides Lebron does. In other words, Steph has no fear of failure at this point in his career which makes him the most dangerous player in the league in high pressure moments – even if he is not the best player. Who else in the league would you rather have taking the game winning shot in Game 7 of the NBA Finals? The Warriors won’t trade Steph and they shouldn’t.

They shouldn’t trade Klay or Draymond either because those guys deserve to finish their careers as Warriors and they are still capable of being pieces on another championship team – though not the second and third pieces. Klay embraced the sixth man role this season and that’s how the Warriors should use him in 2024-25. Bring him off the bench for 20-25 minutes a game. He’s still plenty capable of lighting it up on any given night. And Draymond is still good enough to be the starting power forward on a championship team.

But the Warriors do need another superstar to carry the load with Steph. The guy they need is Donovan Mitchell. The Warriors should trade Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and draft picks to get Mitchell. For whatever reason, Wiggins has fallen off from the form he reached in 2022 when he was the second best player in the Warriors championship run. Kuminga is a tremendous athelete but lacks the fundamentals and experience at this stage of his career to be that guy – and there is a good chance he will never put it all together. Podziemski is a very good player who is going to have a solid NBA career – but he is never going to be an All Star. Donovan Mitchell, on the other hand, is up to being the second best player on a championship team.

Even after giving up all that for Mitchell, the Warriors would have enough left to win a championship. Trayce Jackson Davis proved this year that he is already a solid NBA starting center. That leaves the small forward position to fill. I think it’s asking a lot of Moses Moody – who I love – to fill that role just yet. The Warriors should sign a veteran like Pat Connaughton whose done it before to start at small forward. Moody can come off the bench as the seventh man in the rotation. And Kevon Looney is still a serviceable big man to spell Draymond and TJD.

It’s obvious to everyone that the Warriors need to do something bold to have a chance at winning another championship – but nobody wants to see Klay or Draymond go. Trading for Mitchell would make the Warriors contenders again.

Hypothetical Warriors Rotation

PG – Steph Curry

SG – Donovan Mitchell

SF – Pat Connaughton

PF – Draymond Green

C – Trayce Jackson Davis

Key Bench Players

Klay Thompson

Moses Moody

Kevon Looney