The Golden State Warriors have proven themselves to be the modern dynasty of the NBA. While we saw teams like the San Antonio Spurs stretch out their era of dominance, the Warriors are looking to innovate and build a perennial contender in ways we haven’t seen before in the NBA.
The Warriors fell apart due to injuries in the 2019 NBA Finals and lost the title to the Toronto Raptors. The next season was a slog, as Kevin Durant left the team, Klay Thompson was hurt, and Steph Curry got hurt as well. A season of tanking led to the no. 2 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, which became James Wiseman.
The Warriors entered the lottery with two picks in 2021, drafting Jonathan Kuminga (pick received in trade for Andrew Wiggins from Minnesota) and Moses Moody. With all these young assets, the Warriors were expected to make a trade for more established stars to go full win-now. The Warriors stayed pat, and yet they are here in the Finals. GSW owner Joe Lacob opened up about the criticism he received for not trading the young players away for instant contention:
Joe Lacob on the two timeline plan: “I know we — I, Bob, the organization — took some criticism that we should trade our draft choices to get one more great player. I was adamant about it, so was Bob, that that was not the path.” pic.twitter.com/4u5GgSjrfD
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 30, 2022
“We felt we already had our investment in our core of great players, and they’re still young enough to perform,” said Lacob. (h/t The Score) “Our success this year was always going to depend, primarily, on Steph, Klay – when he came back – and Draymond.”
The Warriors are bringing along their young talent with front-row seats to a championship-winning culture. Kuminga and Moody are in the Finals as rookies, and this is without the Warriors having the services of James Wiseman this season.
If the Warriors can develop their young stars into players that can carry this franchise on their own, this is a dynasty that may just be beginning instead of ending. 6 Finals in 8 years is great, but it’s a number that needs to be improved upon yearly.
