The injuries that cost the Warriors the 2019 NBA Finals — to Kevin Durant (who was traded to Brooklyn next offseason at his request) and Klay Thompson, in particular — combined with a Stephen Curry hand injury, crashed the Warriors into a 15- victory team for the funky 2019-20 COVID/bubble season.
The next season, Warriors ownership wanted to get back on top—despite Thompson rupturing his Achilles and missing another season—and pushed for a trade for Kelly Oubre Jr. fill his role. At the urging of Warriors owner Joe Lacob, the Warriors gave up some draft picks and took a massive tax hit to get Oubre. It did not come close to working well – Oubre was inconsistent (scoring 15.4 points. game but shooting 31% from 3), as well as Andrew Wiggins, plus rookie James Wiseman was not ready for the spotlight, and the Warriors missed the. finals again.
How that went down is why the Warriors didn’t take a big gamble on someone like Brandon Ingram this offseason despite the need for a secondary playmaker, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole reports talking about the Warriors offseason.
Lacob, according to league sources, was a loud voice — the “driving force,” according to one — in favor of a trade for Oubre. So much so that it didn’t matter that it would double Golden State’s luxury tax. Oubre’s one season cost the Warriors more than $80 million in salary and luxury taxes.
Although the Warriors usually like to make collective decisions, that was not the case with Oubre, according to sources. From Lacob down through various levels of power, including then-GM Bob Myers and the coaching staff, there were pockets of dissent. The biggest question appeared to be whether Oubre’s skills and disposition would complement the rest of the roster…
Every move since then, including the addition of Chris Paul last summer, has been made to supplement the roster rather than expand its core. Much of that approach is associated with the Oubre experience. The Warriors no longer want to jeopardize their bottom line, sacrifice a bunch of draft picks or disrupt their roster for anyone who doesn’t value consensus.
Brandon Ingram, to cite an example, is among those who, according to sources, do not meet that level. There is enough upside/downside that any chance of him coming to Golden State is minuscule.
That story is a reminder of one of the great insights of pro sports: When an owner pushes for a trade/signing over the advice of their GM/front office, it backfires 99 times out of 100. Stay in your lane.
The Warriors stayed patient this offseason, making some good depth moves — adding Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson — and arguably getting better (even without Klay Thompson), but didn’t do anything rash in their search for that second star. go by Curry (and no, it won’t be LeBron James).
A big part of what has teams around the league hesitant to trade for Ingram is his contract situation. It’s not the $36 million he’ll make this season, it’s the max contract the 27-year-old is looking to start next year — teams look at his game and don’t want to pay him that, and they don’t. give up what the Pelicans are asking for a one-year lease. While Ingram is an All-Star who averaged 20.8 points per game last season, teams aren’t sure he contributes enough to a win to pay him max money in the new CBA/tax apron environment (the same thing the Bulls are finding when trying to trade) . Zach LaVine).
After Golden State, Oubre signed in Charlotte, he played well in his role there, which earned him a spot in Philadelphia where he thrived as a secondary scorer last season. Oubre has value, he just didn’t fit in with the Warriors. He fits in with the 76ers.
