{"id":354280,"date":"2025-12-17T16:51:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/354280\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T16:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:51:12","slug":"theres-stress-theres-tension-and-yes-there-are-warriors-moves-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/354280\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s stress, there\u2019s tension, and yes, there are Warriors moves coming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Warriors have to make a move and maybe another one after that. They know this. They can\u2019t say it out loud, but it\u2019s an inevitable conclusion as the pressure builds and the lifespan of this era counts down. <\/p>\n

After getting through 33% of the season, it\u2019s time for the Warriors to fully accept what they are and what they\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re an old team that\u2019s 13-14. As currently constructed, they\u2019re not a title contender or perhaps even a team that can repeat last season\u2019s journey past the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s stress. There\u2019s tension. Stephen Curry is playing wonderfully at 37, but he won\u2019t be doing this forever. Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler are 35 and 36, respectively, but still clearly the Warriors\u2019 next-best players. Jonathan Kuminga is out of Steve Kerr\u2019s rotation<\/a> \u2014 and can\u2019t be traded until Jan. 15. Their role players sometimes are fine and sometimes just get rolled by faster, stronger opponents.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Warriors need to make a move or two. They owe it to Curry, for sure. They owe it to Draymond and Butler (unless, of course, one of the two is put into a mega-package). They owe it to the fans who pay top dollar to get into Chase Center and they owe it to themselves.<\/p>\n

They might even find the magic-trick trade that vaults them to a higher level \u2014 the way Mike Dunleavy turned a roster surplus, a first-round pick, and Joe Lacob\u2019s money into Butler<\/a> last February.<\/p>\n

But the Warriors absolutely don\u2019t want to rush into a desperate move that only makes things worse, sets this whole golden era on fire once and for all, and maybe burns into the next era, too. <\/p>\n

It should be about urgency, not panic. About targeted aggression, not wild gambling. Really, it probably will come down to Dunleavy and Lacob\u2019s stomach for sending away future first-round picks to sweeten the pot for a dynamic wing player. And Dunleavy and Lacob finding the right dynamic wing player.<\/p>\n

You know what this feels like? December of last year, when the Warriors struggled after a fast start (just like this season) and were hit with many existential issues about the end of the dynastic run (same as every season for about six years in a row).<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it feels a lot like last year, ironically,\u201d Kerr said after practice on Tuesday. \u201cAt the trade deadline, I think we were .500. We were very inconsistent. We traded for Dennis (Schroder) first and then Jimmy obviously as we were searching for answers. Then we found it. <\/p>\n

Today<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Dec. 9<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very confident that this group will find it. Because we already have Jimmy. And when we\u2019re healthy, I think the lineup is really formidable. I think we have depth. I think we have everything we need. So it\u2019s on me to put it together and to help these guys find the rhythm and the confidence I know they have inside of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerr, as usual, is playing the long game. But in the dwindling days of the Curry era \u2014 and with Kerr coaching out the last year of his current contract \u2014 this is a different kind of long game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about managing the rest of Kuminga\u2019s time here<\/a>, sorting through the other roster pieces, winning enough games to stay steady in the standings, and deciding whether the moment\u2019s worth pushing all-in with the draft picks.<\/p>\n

Lacob, of course, wants the Warriors to win every game \u2014 long and short and home and away and you name the situation. And when they don\u2019t, he wants his front office to explore every possible move to change the direction.<\/p>\n

In the middle it all is Dunleavy, who will have to synthesize all of this into the Warriors\u2019 plan this trade season.<\/p>\n

My guess: The Warriors will keep pushing as long as they have Curry. They won\u2019t concede that the run is over until it\u2019s more than obvious or Curry tells them himself. And folks, Curry is not even close to telling them that.<\/p>\n

My other guess: Kuminga\u2019s trade value isn\u2019t high enough to land a more suitable player in return, so the Warriors will probably have to add at least one unprotected future draft pick. But I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to throw in three or four picks \u2014 unless it\u2019ll bring back Giannis Antetokounmpo, which seems unlikely.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jonathan Kuminga hasn\u2019t played in the Warriors\u2019 last three games. | Source: Amber Pietz\/The Standard<\/p>\n

(Here\u2019s a preliminary list of potential good trade fit<\/a>s, written last month.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the long game adapted into a short-game play: Nothing crazy but borrowing reasonably from their future stash to give Curry one or two more reasonable goes at it. Just like they did last February.<\/p>\n

This time around, the Warriors also need to find a roster spot for Pat Spencer, whose two-way limit of 50 games is coming up. And it\u2019d be better if they could clear out minutes for rookie Will Richard, who played so unexpectedly well to start this season but has been a DNP the previous two games amid the Warriors\u2019 crunch at guard.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s perfectly set up for a two-for-one, three-for-1, or three-for-two consolidation trade. Something like that is coming. You can feel it. <\/p>\n

That also would give Kerr the best path for deciding whether he wants to keep coaching this team. If things are going well by March or so, I think Kerr will want to come back and that Lacob will be happy to have him back. If things are not going well by then, you can see how tricky everything might get.<\/p>\n

But for now, it\u2019s about trying to establish some stability before the moves happen in mid-January or the Feb. 5 trade deadline \u2014 and making sure they\u2019re playoff-relevant by the time they get to mid-January or February.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually like the trend, where we\u2019re heading,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been much better the last couple weeks in kind of the key areas that we\u2019ve talked about \u2014 until the turnovers the other night, obviously. That killed us in the Portland game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut all in all, I think we\u2019re heading in the right direction. I would love to get some continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ASteve Kerr has a glut of guards on his roster and hasn\u2019t found a consistent rotation yet. | Source: Amber Pietz\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Can they do it? Can they keep being a version of the Warriors that\u2019s dangerous in the playoffs and the best platform for more potential all-time Curry moments? Can they break their recent trend of blowing games at the end?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we did it last year,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cAfter we got Jimmy last year, we found the perfect balance. Took care of the ball, defended at a high level, and both Steph and Jimmy took turns taking over games. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we have the formula. We just have to look right back to the end of last season.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Warriors can\u2019t just trust that everything will break their way again this spring just like it did a year ago. They\u2019re older. Their young players still aren\u2019t sturdy enough. They need to make a move or two.<\/p>\n

The story never stays exactly the same. And at some point, the tale of this era will end. But I can\u2019t imagine the Warriors are ready to accept this. They\u2019ll make moves by Feb. 5. Because the long game isn\u2019t about decades or years anymore. It\u2019s about weeks and months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,5552,7227,590,85,17205,58049],"class_list":{"0":"post-354280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-steph-curry","15":"tag-steve-kerr"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}