Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob apparently isn’t married to the current roster.
Not if they fail to win this year’s NBA title, at least.
From Bay Area New Group’s Mark Medina:
Lacob remains confident with the Warriors’ direction. Yet, he also expressed the need “to be relentless” with their roster building and innovation, citing the Houston Rockets as one of many NBA teams that have made moves in hopes to derail the Warriors’ quest to hold on to the Larry O’Brien trophy. . . .
What if the Warriors do not win?
“Maybe we will emphasize continuity. Or maybe we will make a big move,” Lacob said. “We’re looking at different options, given different things playing out in different ways. I think you should always be doing that.”
We’d be remiss if we didn’t present these sentiments along with his commitment to the other side of the fence.
Lacob has indicated in the past he’ll pay whatever it takes to keep a championship core together. Just because he knows Stephen Curry won’t play like this forever, or that there’s a shelf life on every nucleus, doesn’t mean he’ll hit the eject button at the first opportunity. Consider what he says here, also per Medina:
“We’ll build around that core until we decide maybe we shouldn’t. But right now it feels pretty good,” Lacob said. “These guys are all performing at a great level. We love them as part of our organization. I don’t really see doing anything major. But you never really know. We have to evaluate when the season is over. It’s very hard when you’re in the middle of it all to see it objectively.”
So, again, the Warriors aren’t in any imminent danger of being disbanded. They’ll be a natural shit-or-get-off-the-pot moment when Klay Thompson reaches free agency in 2019 and/or when Draymond Green hits the open market in 2020. For now, though, the Warriors feel safe.
Maybe that changes if they don’t win the title. The Houston Rockets pose a legitimate threat to their reign, and people have floated the idea of a LeBron-to-Golden State scenario. But the Warriors’ cap situation makes it difficult to do anything substantial. Other teams won’t be chomping at the bit to acquire the contracts of Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. They’ll have to dangle one of Thompson or Green in trade talks if they’re to make any wholesale changes.
Will they be willing to explore that avenue in the event they don’t win a championship this year? The safe is answer no. But hell, Kevin Durant joined a 73-win foundation in 2016, so anything’s possible.
