Decisions the Warriors Should Already Regret from This Past Offseason

The Golden State Warriors couldn’t have scripted a much better start to the 2023-24 NBA season.

Stephen Curry has played at an MVP level, Chris Paul has transformed the second team from a glaring weakness to an obvious strength and they’ve already found the formula for winning road games that eluded them all of last season.

That ups the difficulty for an exercise like this, since most of what they did this past summer has panned out. Still, if we get a little nitpicky, there are a few questionable decisions this club could regret.

The Warriors brought one of the league’s oldest rosters into this season, and a huge chunk of this team has dealt with injury issues in the past.

You would think, then, this front office did everything it could to safeguard this club against additional absences by building as much insurance as policy. What actually happened, though, was that the Warriors only carried 13 standard contracts into the campaign—two fewer than they were allowed.

Granted, with only minimum money to offer and an already crowded rotation, they weren’t going to add any difference-makers, but they could’ve found capable contributors. Rudy Gay would’ve given them another complimentary scoring source. Rodney McGruder would’ve provided plenty of hustle and activity. Javonte Green would’ve added tenacious defense to the mix.

The Warriors ultimately chose none of the above, though, and only recently gave out its 14th contract—a partially guaranteed three-year deal to Gui Santos, the 55th pick of the 2022 draft. While this gives Golden State some financial flexibility, it doesn’t allow for much protection should the injury bug attack this aging roster.

If the Warriors plan on adding to their championship collection, they likely need to find a way around Nikola Jokić. And maybe Joel Embiid. Or Anthony Davis. Or Domantas Sabonis. Or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Or Bam Adebayo.

There are, in other words, a ton of big-body boulders lining their path to a title, and Golden State isn’t physically equipped to handle any of them.

The tallest player on this team is Dario Šarić, who stands all of 6’10”. The heaviest is rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, who only tips the scales at 245 pounds. For comparison, Jokić is 6’11”, Embiid is 7’0″ and both weigh at least 280 pounds.

While small-ball has treated the Warriors well in the past, the NBA is seeing more big players dominate than it did during the peak of the Dubs’ dynasty. If Golden State is getting overpowered in the post come playoff time, it will wish it had pursued some kind of size this summer.

The Warriors held the No. 19 pick in this year’s draft and with it came the opportunity to expand this rotation.

Granted, the odds of landing a plug-and-play contributor at that spot aren’t great, but it could’ve happened. Think this group couldn’t have used someone with the scoring punch of Detroit Pistons guard Marcus Sasser (the No. 25 pick)? Or how about the three-and-D abilities of Denver Nuggets swingman Julian Strawther (No. 29)?

Or Golden State could’ve ditched the draft-night guessing game entirely and swapped out the pick. There had to have been some long-term rebuilders (or cost-conscious contenders) willing to part with a veteran of some value in order to add that pick.

Instead, the Warriors kept it and spent it on Brandin Podziesmki, a 6’5″ scoring guard with athletic limitations that make him hard to fit on the defensive end. He opened this season outside of the rotation and it’s quite possible that’s where he’ll end it, too. For a team that so badly needs to capitalize on the remainder of Stephen Curry’s prime, this appears—for now, at least—to be a rather uninspiring way of using that pick.