The Golden State Warriors are back to their contending ways. They are up 2-0 on the Denver Nuggets currently and will look to win 2 more to complete the series sweep. There is no doubt that the team has looked dangerous on both ends of the floor.
Part of the reason for that has been the emergence of young guard Jordan Poole. While he wasn’t on the shortlist of finalists for the Most Improved Player Award, he has definitely taken a huge leap and helped the team. Over the course of the season, Jordan Poole averaged 18.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 4.0 APG.
While the Warriors are contending with a nice mix of veterans and young players, the same cannot be said for a different team that was slated as a force at the start of the season: the Los Angeles Lakers. The all-in trade for Russell Westbrook didn’t go as planned for the team, and they ended up missing the play-in tournament entirely.
Governor Joe Lacob has seemingly taken shots at the Los Angeles Lakers, pointing out that there were “some teams that went all-in on older players” and added that “older players do get injured”. It seems as though he is referencing the Lakers, who dealt with a lot of injury struggles this season, in particular, Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Tim Kawakami of The Athletic relayed the news.
“I’ll let you make the judgment on that,” Lacob said. “You know where I am on that. You know what my view has been from the beginning with Bob (Myers) and the rest of our group. I don’t view it as a two-timeline thing. I view it as what we need to do to be the best team we can be now and for the future. We have to think of both. I really believe in that.
“There are a couple teams, I’m not going to say who, there’s some other teams that went all-in on older players. And older players do get injured. That’s the thing you have to remember. Suppose we had made a trade, traded away all our youth, for I don’t know, you name the guy, and they’re injured, out for the year. Anytime you’re over 30, 32, 35, these people get injured. It’s data.
“Having a Jordan Poole emerge at 22 and a Kuminga, who obviously is incredibly talented, isn’t playing so much so far yet in this series, but I think he will have his role … and (James) Wiseman coming back next year, (Moses) Moody … I just think we’re set up for the future. And yet we’re really good now.”
There is no doubt that the Golden State Warriors are set up for current contention, but for the future as well. Their plan to have a solid young core while still trying to win a championship has clearly worked. Though Andre Iguodala criticized the plan earlier in the year, the development of players like Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole has helped them immensely.
The Western Conference has other good teams such as the Phoenix Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies, but it seems possible that the Golden State Warriors have the ability to make it back to the Finals. It remains to be seen if that becomes a reality, but any Stephen Curry-led team shouldn’t be counted out.
