The Golden State Warriors off-season so far has been one that has been miserable. A franchise a few short months removed from coming off its best season (51 wins) since the 1993-1994 season.
Yet, since then the franchise has lost its coach as Mark Jackson got fired after the Warriors first round exit to the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games. A move that did make sense, yet the man hired as his replacement can only get described as a questionable move considering the strides Golden State made defensively.
As free agency has begun the Warriors have signed guard Shaun Livingston to a three-year $16 million dollar contract while using its full mid-level exception and let a $9.8 million dollar trade exception expire. The team has reportedly been interested in acquiring Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yet, rumors have circulated that general manager Bob Myers isn’t willing to include Klay Thompson in the deal.
Now that LeBron James has decided to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State has little chance of acquiring Love unless Myers has a change of heart, which doesn’t appear likely.
Meanwhile the Clippers have gotten better with their free agent signings point guard Jordan Farmar and power forward Spencer Hawes, who the Warriors had an interest in. So, on top of not being able to acquire Love, Myers lost out on Hawes.
In order for the off-season to turn around Myers needs to let go of the notion that Thompson isn’t expendable as he certainly is. The shooting guard is tremendous defensively, yet extremely limited offensively and is not worth keeping if there’s still the possibility of acquiring the best power forward in the NBA.
Unfortunately it seems that Myers and the Warriors are content with standing pat and letting the franchise again head in the wrong direction.