As the Warriors continue to plummet, the franchise’s head coach warned against mortgaging too much of the future at the trade deadline.
Mike McDaniel | Jan 14, 2025
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The Golden State Warriors reached a low point in their season on Monday night, falling to the 9–31 Toronto Raptors to drop their record to 19–20, good for 12th place in the Western Conference.
With the trade deadline just three weeks away, the Warriors once again have the evaluate the current roster and improvement in the present vs. mortgaging the future. The "two-timeline" approach centered around Steph Curry and Draymond Green will once again be reviewed, with questions abound about what's next.
It's clear that the Warriors won't be able to materially improve the current roster situation without moving pieces (players or otherwise) that are a part of the future. Head coach Steve Kerr cautioned against rocking the boat too much in moves that would affect the franchise long after he, Curry and Green are gone.
"That's the hard part in addressing all this stuff," Kerr told the media on Monday, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. "We're not giving in. But you have to be realistic organizationally about where you are. And you have to mind what's coming ahead in the future. I probably won't be around, but I would tell you, if this organization gave away the next six or seven drafts for a wild swing, that would be the most irresponsible thing that they could do."
Kerr knows the current players on the roster figuring things out would be the best path forward. Sharpshooter Buddy Hield has made less than 30% of his threes over the past month, and he's too good of a shooter for that to last. The offense as a whole has struggled, but there are a lot of shooters on the roster with good track records of figuring things out.
If the Warriors want to make a strong push for the postseason, it better happen soon before they fall too far out of contention.