Golden State Warriors: Should They Fight for Playoffs or Look Toward NBA Draft?
The Golden State Warriors are in a fight for a spot in the NBA playoffs.
If this were an actual fight, I’d give up about now.
My favorite movies of all time are the Rocky films—I love everything about those movies, except that the fifth one was made. No matter how many times Rocky was the underdog (every time), what made those movies great was that he never backed down.
That’s why everyone loves those movies—anything seems possible. So it pains me to say that the Warriors should “throw the damn towel” and start looking toward the NBA draft.
That's not to say I would expect them to start losing games on purpose, but if they did, I might just look the other way.
The Warriors were putting on a nice little run—beating the Chicago Bulls, the Carmelo Anthony-led Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's three impressive home wins there. Then, a true test came when they traveled to Utah and beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City.
It felt like a cloud had been lifted. The Warriors could win on the road!
That win put them three games out of the final playoff spot. It looked like they'd turned a corner and were ready to make a run, a la 2007. But then came the NBA All-Star break and now it looks like they've tuned back into the same old Warriors again.
It started with the second half collapse against the Boston Celtics in the first game back and they haven't been the same since.
Following the blowout loss at home to Atlanta came the start of a seven-game road trip that's led them to lose six of their last seven games.
The one win they did get was against the Washington Wizards—but if I was filling out an NCAA March Madness bracket next week and the Wizards were a one seed, I might have them out in the sweet 16.
These recent losses have them seven games out of the last playoff spot and four and a half games out of 13th place in the Western Conference. Now that they face more road games than home ones for the rest of the season, it’s time to get ready for next year.
Even if the Warriors were to put together a Rocky-like performance in their final 20 games, it probably still wouldn’t be enough. At 27-35, not only are they seven games out of the final playoff spot, but more importantly (or sadly), they're also behind four other teams in the hunt for that final spot.
Memphis is currently the eighth seed, but they just don’t lose games anymore. The Phoenix Suns are just one game behind them and you know Steve Nash isn’t going to be content with not making the playoffs. The Utah Jazz, as bad as they've been, are still ahead of them and the Houston Rockets just keep hanging around.
Even if the Warriors finish with a .500 record, which would be quite an accomplishment from here on out, that probably still wouldn't give them a legit shot at the postseason.
For Warriors fans, if you accept that this team is not going to the playoffs and watch the rest of their games with the mindset that they're building for next year, you'll save yourself a lot of heartbreak.
The Warriors have at least been competitive in these last few games. It's not like it's embarrassing to watch them play—they're just missing a key piece that's not there this season.
By not making any deals at the trade deadline, the Warriors brass pretty much admitted it—being seven games out of the eighth seed, with four teams ahead of them, it's time to call off the dogs and look towards the future.
