Set Pride Aside - This Much Bad Is Good

Seeing the Dubs be this bad stings. For newer fans, watching them go from being the defining embodiment of elite basketball to a team that can't compete with a mediocre OKC Thunder is borderline traumatic. For older fans, like me, watching the 2019 Warriors brings up past trauma, like the offseason that saw us lose Billy Owens and Chris Webber, or when the original "I Believe" team was dismantled. Though neither of those were championship teams, the hangover of going from ultra-exciting competitor to embarrassingly awful is familiar and sickening, but with the added insult of having other NBA fans dance on our grave with glee.

But to quote Marsellus Wallace (if language filters permit), "That's pride, fucking with you. Fuck Pride." Because the truth is that this awful edition of the Warriors is exactly what's going to set us up for our next championship run.

I can hear it now: "The hell you say? How can the Warriors being so bad be anything other than, well, bad?"

Here's three reason why the awful 2019-2020 season (and it will be awful) is exactly what the Warriors needed to retool for another push.

1) The Warriors will have a first round draft pick, and probably a good one.

The Warriors badly need talent from the draft. If they had finished the season as one of the top 12 teams they would have lost the pick to the Nets, and even if they had held onto a pick that was going to be in the 15-20 range, the chance of them getting a really good player who could meaningfully contribute to a championship on a cheap rookie contract would have been slim. As much credit as they've gotten over the years for making the most of their low picks, only Looney has actually developed into a key role player for them, and there were stretches where even that was iffy.

This bad Warriors team could easily end up with a top 5 pick. Although next year's draft is going to be guard heavy, the Warriors could land themselves 7 foot phenom James Wiseman who could slip below the flashier guards, or they could have a shot at future super-wing Anthony "Ant Man" Edwards, who has drawn legit comparison to James Harden. Having a high caliber player who won't put too much strain on the salary cap is crucial for the Warriors making another run, and holding onto this pick was their only shot (no 1st rounder in 2021).

2) D'Angelo Russell will be traded by the trade deadline for draft picks.

I was and still am a fan of the move to get and sign Russell. It gives them a lot of options they simply would not have had otherwise, especially with regards to asset accumulation, which is what the Warriors desperately need.

However, I was concerned that the Warriors might be serious about making Russell part of their long term plans, or more likely, part of a scheme to get the Greek Freak. Specifically, I was worried Russell would play really well and convince the Warriors that he'd retain his value to next offseason and/or be a legit piece to the puzzle. In that scenario, I could see the Warriors taking one of two gambles. Both point back to a risky strategy of trying to sign Giannis Antetokounmpo. There's been so much speculation of the Ws getting Giannis, it's pretty likely that someone in the Ws front office has been pitching this, but given the salary cap problems the Warriors face it's hard to see it paying off in more championships.

Gamble A) Renting a Freak in exchange for Russell and a 2020 draft pick. That would have been a HUGE gamble, and I don't think it would have paid off. We still would have been in a salary cap bind, with no guarantee that he signs long term. It would force the Warriors to trade Dray away just to fill out the roster, or run a 2020 team of Steph, Klay, Dray, Giannis, 1 MLE, and 10 league minimums. As great as those four are, there would have been no margin of error, no ability to weather an injury - even one that simply limited one of the big 4s utility - and it would have created pressure to trade both Dray and Klay in order to resign Giannis. No matter how you slice it, Giannis at full max would have made it impossible to keep Klay OR Draymond while filling out the roster with players who actually belong in the league.

Gamble B) If the Bucks would have refused to entertain pre-agent offers, then the Warriors would likely have begun positioning themselves for 2021. Fielding offers for their two SGs, Klay would have been the one who could legitimately bring back an actual star (though notably not an elite superstar), so if the Warriors felt like Russell was good enough to be the 4th star there's a very good chance they would have pulled the trigger on that kind of trade, especially if it were a rent-a-star whose expiring contract would create space for a 2021 Giannis signing.

And if signing Giannis fell through the Warriors would almost certainly put their chips into one of the other 2021 free agents, all of whom come with the same salary cap problems but have way less upside than Giannis (with the exception of Kawhi Leonard, who's not signing with the Warriors). Either way, I think that approach is unlikely to get them back to title contention. Russell's success would have opened the door for temptation the Warriors don't need. I think it's clear after two games that Russell is not going to work out, and so the Warriors will have to trade him before the trade deadline to preserve any value, almost certainly for draft picks, which as noted above is exactly what they need.

3) Our three legit stars won't be pushed (or push themselves) towards a futile playoff run.

It will be better for our team if Klay is not tempted to rush back. It will be better for our team not to to have Steph logging 40 minutes a game for 90+ games. It will be better for our team not to have Draymond taking a charge every game from guys with 5 inches and 25 pounds on him. After 6 straight seasons of deep playoff runs, it's best long term for our big 3 to get kind of a breather. Even Michael Jordan got a break during the Bulls run. Our stars need it.

But as anyone can tell from Draymond's exasperated press conferences, they've got a lot of pride, and as long as there's even a small chance of doing it they're going to push it to the limit. Fortunately, this year's Warriors are so bad it will be easier for Kerr to keep Klay at bay, keep Steph from trying to save the day game in and game out, keep Draymond from putting his body on the line unnecessarily - to tell them all fuck your pride, let's play the long game.

And as proud fans it's a bitter pill to swallow, but one that gives us the best chance of seeing the Dubs hold up more O'Briens in the future. Go Dubs!