The season has not went as expected for the Golden State Warriors, who sit at 12-43 (the worst record in the league) after an offseason that saw them lose two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant after knowing they would have to go through most, if not all, of the 2019-20 season without star shooting guard Klay Thompson after he sustained a torn ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
Unfortunately, the problems didn’t end there for the Warriors, as two-time MVP Stephen Curry broke his left hand just four games into the season.
With the losses piling up for Golden State and questions about the long-term fit of combo guard D’Angelo Russell looming over the organization, it seemed to many that the Warriors’ only hope of reclaiming their dynasty status was to wait for the 2020 NBA Draft and being one of the highly-touted prospects into the fold. Frankly, there should have been as many questions about the long-term fit of the top prospects — namely center James Wiseman, shooting guard Anthony Edwards and point guard LaMelo Ball — as there were for Russell and perhaps there were, internally.
Golden State needed wing help, specifically at small forward in the wake of Durant’s departure and finding a Swiss-army knife in the mold of forward Andre Iguodala — who was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies — wouldn’t hurt either.
Then came the trade for former first overall pick Andrew Wiggins.
Though underwhelming with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wiggins’ arrival reinvigorated the Warriors due to his positional fit and his untapped potential. His play in the first three games of his Golden State tenure, a continuance of his strong play at the beginning of the season, only increased the team’s optimism about the team’s potential when fully healthy.
Optimism that will only grow with the impending return of Curry.
However, just because the Warriors are currently on pace to have the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, doesn’t mean that Golden State is looking to wind up with it. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Speaking to USA TODAY’s Mark Medina, Warriors owner Joe Lacob spoke about Curry’s highly-anticipated return and decided to deliver a message about the concept of Golden State ‘tanking’ as well:
“Steph is coming back. That’s not even a discussion internally,” Lacob said. “He’s ready to play so he should play. By the way, we’ll try to win every game. I’m not really about, ‘Let’s lose every game so we can get the best pick.’ You try to do that, you’re messing with the basketball gods. So we don’t believe in that.”
With 27 games left, the Warriors can’t realistically be expected to win more than 10-15 games for the rest of the season. Such a finish would give Golden State between 22 and 27 wins for 2019-20, which would — at best — get them just outside of the top-five projected picks for the 2020 NBA Draft.
A pick that could still net them a nice prospect and potentially a replacement for Iguodala and one who, frankly, would be a better fit than the aforementioned prospects presumed to be the top-three picks.
The Warriors believe they’re well on their way to another stretch in their dynasty and until proven wrong, they have every reason to think that. Most encouraging is that the franchise still has the mindset of a champion, refusing to purposely lose games, even if it secures them one of the draft’s top talents.
