SAN FRANCISCO — It’s easy for Warriors executives, coaches and players to hide at Chase Center. Plenty of secret corridors and curtains connect and obscure the back rooms of the team’s locker room and practice facility.
Yet, a large group of grim-faced Warriors executives met for a powwow in plain sight following the team’s embarrassing loss to a Phoenix Suns team playing without any of its star players on Tuesday night. In a room next to the team’s locker room, majority owner Joe Lacob, his sons and executives Kirk and Kent Lacob along with general manager Bob Myers and vice president of basketball operations Mike Dunleavy Jr. were among those circled up.
One can only wonder what the brain trust was discussing after a loss like that to complete an underwhelming first half of a title defense season. The Warriors’ brass certainly has decisions to make after reaching the midway point a game under .500, sitting as the eighth seed in a mediocre Western Conference.
The same team that imposed its will and championship DNA to an NBA title last season doesn’t have an identity. That chip on their shoulder comes and goes. They are (mostly) a winning team at home and a mess on the road. Their momentum is herky-jerky at a point where they need to go, go, go.
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” Steph Curry said on Tuesday following his anticipated return to the court after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury.. “And eventually, you’ve got to do it. Or time runs out.”
There are concrete problems with solutions that could boost them into the Western Conference’s top echelon. Decisions the team’s brass will need to address now.
The most obvious issue that the front office can address is the Warriors’ thin frontcourt. The trade deadline is Feb. 9; do they take a leap and trade for another big who can set a good screen, move the ball and perhaps stretch the floor or apply pressure at the rim?
James Wiseman is injured and is still developing into a player who can defend at an NBA level or assert himself offensively with consistency. JaMychal Green, who is also out, hasn’t shown he can fill the Otto Porter Jr. mold as the team had hoped.
Jonathan Kuminga, yet another injured option, has been evolving as a strong point-of-attack defender and a potential threat at the rim. At age 20, is Kuminga enough? At the halfway point of the season, maybe the front office feels an outside addition provides some security. A heavy luxury tax burden limits the Warriors’ options; they’d likely need to part ways with former No. 2 overall pick Wiseman in a trade for Jakob Poeltl or Jae Crowder.
There has to be some urgency to explore trade options — or maybe buyout options down the line — because a thin frontcourt comes at a cost. Head coach Steve Kerr raised workload concerns about Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, both of whom have needed to play maximum minutes with injuries ripping the depth to shreds.
Looney hasn’t missed a game all year, and the team’s success in any playoff run will depend on him and Green staying healthy. News of Green’s aching back recently should raise concerns after he missed more than a month late last season with a back injury.
“Typical time of the season where you call them the dog days, halfway through, not through the All-Star break yet,” Green told this news organization earlier this week. “Do you feel great? No. Not physically or mentally. That’s just the space you’re in at that point in the season. No one feels great.”
Green began this season with a unique motivation as a problem child who pundits proclaimed needed to be traded after video leaked of him punching teammate Jordan Poole in the preseason. He proved again himself as an irreplaceable defender and playmaker. Now he’s playing 31 minutes per game, nearly half the time and most effectively at center, with a concerning workload already.
Green says he’s doing what he can to stave off an extended absence, focusing more on his core strength this season to prevent another bad back injury. But the Warriors could insulate their title hopes from imploding if Green misses time.
Adding some depth to the frontcourt could also help the Warriors’ defensive identity crisis. After a dismal 1-5 East Coast road trip, Green said the team’s mental fragility was the biggest reason for its lack of consistent ball pressure. That manifests in a lack of grit on defense that gave them that extra oomph last season.
Another area of concern has been playmaking, but Andre Iguodala could be the extra point forward the Warriors need. In his second game back on Tuesday, he played the adult in the room, his best role, that prompted 13 Phoenix turnovers in the fourth quarter to buoy the Warriors’ comeback attempt. He briefly took over the role Green had to shoulder when the second unit was floundering earlier this year, relieving the turnover-prone Poole from some playmaking duties.
If he can stay healthy, 38-year-old Iguodala could be a front court depth savior with IQ that makes his integration back onto the roster seamless.
The Warriors’ issues aren’t just defensive — though they thrive off the transition offense their defense creates. Poole hasn’t taken the next step after signing his lucrative contract. Moses Moody’s development has taken an alarming turn.
The executives who circled up Tuesday night have every reason to be concerned. With a historically large payroll and a title to defend, a sub-.500 record at the halfway mark warrants action.
But around the corner in the team locker room, the mood remained as it has all year. The veterans know they have to set the tone, but these ups and downs are just part of a familiar ride. They still think they’ll win a title.
“All the team that’s won championships here, we’ve been on since 2015,” Green said. “I 100 percent believe that. It hasn’t been proven yet that we can’t.”
