Have The Golden State Warriors Ruined Basketball?
Look it was bad enough when they had four all stars in their starting lineup but adding DeMarcus Cousins on top of that? There’s never been a more talented starting five in the history of the league than Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Boogie Cousins. This is not how it’s supposed to happen. Especially not for bargain bin prices at five million smackers on a mid-level exception.
The whole point of a salary cap is to evenly distribute talent around the league based on their financial value. But the five million or so dollars left on the table by Kevin Durant is the same five million dollars or so that Boogie accepted to spend a season in Golden State. Because he cares about winning. Because he wants to play with the best, play for the best. Or, you know, whatever.
We’ve been here before, right? The ill-fated cap spike of a couple years ago allowed Kevin Durant to sign with the Dubs after LeBron James had pulled off a finals series for the ages to deliver a championship to the Cavaliers… chucking one of the three finest players on the planet into a team that had just gone 73-9 in the regular season. The next two NBA seasons belonged to the Warriors. Back to back titles. Three in four years. Now they’ve signed DeMarcus Cousins.
And they were able to sign Boogie because literally all 29 other teams combined for zero concrete offers for him. The Pelicans had suggested two years and $40 mill before the end of the season but that was months ago and Cousins probably wanted to test the market. Once he did he found that there was nothing. Only dust. A bunch of teams probably never wanted him anyway, he’s a bit of a tricky character, and a bunch others simply cannot afford him – blame all those terrible back-ended contracts from the cap spike again.
But then teams were also put off by his Achilles injury which could well keep him out until January and even then you never know what player he’ll be when he gets back. This is an injury that has ended careers before. An absolute workhorse like Wes Matthews hasn’t been the same since he did his, Kobe Bryant’s decline was inevitable at his age but an Achilles tear sure didn’t help. And those are hyper-athletic guards, not seven-foot centres like Cousins.
Any hesitancy towards offering Boogie multiple years limits a team’s chances of signing him. The Celtics tried. The Warriors got him. If we’re talking a single-year contract at a less-than-worthy value then that’s about all that there is left. Any team outside the playoffs is looking long term and a single year loan doesn’t help, especially not for a player who tends not to adapt to different systems too well. Playoff teams either already have franchise centres or they have no cap room or they just plain didn’t want him. He had no market.
DeMarcus Cousins wanted a max contract and he made that very clear. There were no max contracts out there. But spend half a season rehabbing on the Warriors’ payroll and then get some reps in the back-half of things, experience his first taste of playoff basketball (Cousins has never played in the playoffs, believe it or not), and then hit free agency again and see what’s up. The Warriors cannot afford to re-sign him if he’s even half decent so this is a one-hit-wonder situation at best/worst.
Make no mistake about it, this is rather disgusting all the same. It’s unlikely we see anything near the Cousins that we were watching before he tore his Achilles but the mere concept of the double reigning champs signing an all star on a discount is obscene. It’s absurd. It should never happen. It’s an offence to the very essence of competition.
But… like, the Warriors were arguably one Chris Paul injury from losing in the Western Conference Finals. They’ve just added a notoriously temperamental centre who doesn’t fit in their death time lineup and is coming off a crippling injury. That’s hardly a slam dunk. This idea that the Warriors are unbeatable and nobody else has a chance… try telling that to the players. Try explaining to LeBron James that there’s no point in even turning up because the season’s already been decided.
Of course it hasn’t. If the fascinating world of #NBAmetrics has had one major deficiency it’s this analytic way of viewing the league. 1+1=2 so therefore the Warriors are inevitable champs. No, it doesn’t work like that. Player values are massively fluctuating. The Victor Oladipo that the Thunder traded is not the same as the Victor Oladipo that the Pacers received. The overwhelming talent on this Warriors roster is frightening but who’s to say that somebody doesn’t get injured or lose form? That happens all the time, it’s sport. Five all stars don’t guarantee victory. Nothing guarantees victory.
In fact if we’re talking about the Warriors ruining the league, check out the telly viewership from the past four finals. The Warriors don’t mind being the bad guys, they’re on the dynasty level. And let’s be honest and admit that the NBA is much more interesting when there are dynasties involved. Magic’s Lakers, Jordan’s Bulls… they set the standard for everyone else. They’re the flag at the top of the mountain that everyone else is trying to reach. They drag the quality of the game forwards.
And then there’s the usual point that we can’t forget which is that the Warriors only got themselves in this position because they drafted three of this generation’s finest talents and nurtured them into superstars. They took Steph Curry at seven in 2009, one place below the infamous Jonny Flynn selection that Minnesota made. Then they stuck with him while he had his early-career ankle worries. They took Klay Thompson at 11 in 2011, after the likes of Derrick Williams, Jas Vesely, Bismack Biyombo and Jimmer Fredette had already gone. Then they believed in him enough to reject that proposed trade for Kevin Love. And who can forget Draymond Green going at 35 in 2012? Oh that’s right, literally every other team in the league as they all passed on him.
That doesn’t make it cool what’s happened in free agency since but it does mean that it didn’t have to be the Warriors, it could have been your team instead with sharper scouting.
The Warriors are going to come into next season as overwhelming favourites for the title. Then they’ll probably take it easy in the first half and get people edging forward in their seats only to drop it into gear down the stretch. But that doesn’t make them unbeatable. And even if they do win it all for a third time in a row and fourth in five years, well… the Bulls used to do the same. The Lakers have done the same. The Boston Celtics once won nine titles in ten seasons. Dynasties are the norm in the NBA.
But since the Warriors have sought to sustain their legacy through slightly nefarious means, know that DeMarcus Cousins will not be there after next season. Know that Steph Curry will be earning an average of more than $40m per season for the next four years. Know that Andre Iguodala is 34 years old and on the books for $17m in 2019-20. Draymond Green is a free agent in two seasons’ time and won’t come cheap. Same goes for Klay Thompson following this season (although they might do KD’s and take discounts, hopefully not). The Warriors are already over the salary cap. This, like every dynasty, will not last.
So don’t bother boycotting the NBA when the NBA is as good as it’s ever been. The saturation of basketball is amazing, the culture and brand of the sport is incredible. We’re having crazy in-depth debates about the sport in the middle of the offseason (at a time when I’ve temporarily unsubscribed from all my NFL podcasts).
The Warriors haven’t ruined basketball. Not even close.
But that doesn’t mean that you have to like them.
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