Golden State Warriors: Where Mediocrity Happens
Fans all across Northern California rejoiced when news broke that the Golden State Warriors were being sold. Many had hoped that Larry Ellison, the billionaire CEO of Oracle, would buy the team — let's face it, he's a big spender.
Unfortunately for Ellison, his final bid came too late, leaving the arena’s namesake as his only influence on the team. Nonetheless, fans remained optimistic.
Anything would be better than Chris Cohan and his No. 2 man, Robert Rowell. Indeed, not many franchises have done worse than the Warriors during Cohan’s dark reign, which saw just one postseason appearance in 15 years in a league where more than half the teams reach the playoffs.
New owners Peter Gruber and Joe Lacob excited fans. They were minority owners of the Boston Celtics and eager to continue winning in the Bay Area. While the ownership group does not have pockets as deep as Ellison’s, Lacob is a dedicated Warriors fan. He held season tickets for years prior to the Warriors’ purchase in 2010.
The group made immediate personnel changes, rightfully firing Robert Rowell and misguidedly firing head coach Don Nelson.
As Tim Kawakami notes, there are quite a few notable Rowell mistakes. I agree completely with his most egregious choice, which happened back in 2008.
"Giving Stephen Jackson a three-year, $27.8M extension... when Jackson still had two years left on his deal.
"
The current ownership has been a disappointment on two fronts: firing Don Nelson and not landing a game-changing player through free agency or trade. Don Nelson left his final NBA season as the game’s most winningest coach with a record 1,335 wins.
GM Larry Riley has so far evaded the axe, perhaps a result of signing David Lee. To be fair, he has built a solid bench this year, a major weakness during the 2010-2011 season, but has been unable to land a game changer.
With one year remaining on his contract, Gruber and Lacob replaced him with long-time assistant Keith Smart. Despite improving the Warriors by 10 wins, Smart did not coach well in his lone season as Warriors head coach. Many forget that the previous season saw a depleted roster with multiple D-League call-ups.
It is truly sad to imagine what could have been a healthy run-and-gun team built in Nelson’s image for his very last season. Instead, we saw Smart keep a short leash on Curry while giving heavy minutes to Acie Law rather than Jeremy Lin, whose "Linsanity" has spread nationwide.
The inability to land a star player has also hurt the current regime’s image. They struck out with Tyson Chandler and restricted free agent DeAndre Jordan, and wasted the amnesty clause on Charlie Bell to clear a few million in cap space.
The Hornets and Magic never entered serious discussions with the Warriors, as they were unwilling to part with Monta or Curry for a one-season rental. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard did not agree to extend with the Warriors, a franchise plagued with a losing culture that shows no sign of improving.
Looking through the current regime’s body of work, it's hard to imagine they deserve anything better than a solid C. They have earned a perfectly average grade and continue to be mired in mediocrity. The team dwells in the worst part of the league, too bad to make the playoffs, too good for high lottery drafts.
They’ll need a blockbuster trade to truly improve and will eventually have to muster the courage to deal either Monta or Curry for a meaningful change to occur, as they are the two best trading chips.
What grade do you give Lacob and Gruber? What moves does the front office have to make to make our beloved Warriors better?
