Breaking News: warriors head coach just summitted his resignation letter to the management.
Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and head coach Steve Kerr on Thursday talked about the tough end to the team’s season and what lies ahead.
Dunleavy Jr. and the rest of Golden State’s front office staff had a feeling this season would wind up short of the ultimate goal for a franchise that has won four NBA championships over the past decade.
“I think the overarching emotion right now is disappointment. We’re still sort of settling in on what happened,” Dunleavy said Thursday. “But on the whole, we knew this season no matter how long it went along, was going to end at some point probably disappointing us and so not a shocking surprise. But I think as far as what we need to do, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s to get better. I think that presents a really good challenge for everybody.”
Being run off the court by the Kings especially stung, given how closely the teams played this season but also the because the Warriors had thrilling seven-game victory against their Northern California neighbors in the first round of last year’s Western Conference playoffs.
“That was the worst game we played all year,” Dunleavy said.
Now, they regroup and evaluate how much of the roster to keep in
tact.
That’s the way the season went for Stephen Curry and Co. — losing big leads, making costly mistakes, repeatedly unable to deliver the big defensive stop when it mattered most.
Coach Steve Kerr had hoped the 10th-seeded Warriors could somehow fight through the NBA’s play-in tournament and into a playoff series. Instead, they lost 118-94 at Sacramento on Tuesday night and were eliminated.
Working to bring back Klay Thompson — at the right price — will be a priority going into the summer.
The 34-year-old Thompson missed all 10 shots in the loss to the Kings and becomes a free agent in July when his five-year contract worth nearly $190 million expires. He missed more than 2 1/2 years recovering from surgeries on his left knee and right Achilles tendon before returning in January 2022 and helping the Warriors to their most recent title that spring.
“Certainly we want Klay back first and foremost. I expressed that to him yesterday,” Dunleavy said. “I think our players have expressed that, our coach, front office, ownership, look, everybody wants Klay back. He’s still a really good player and I think we have enough good players in our system, we have enough assets to acquire good players and we have the ability to keep getting better.”
The question for Dunleavy is whether the Warriors can make another title run while led by the core trio of Thompson, the 36-year-old Curry and Draymond Green, who is 34.
“There’s a lot of value in our three guys being Warriors for life,” Kerr said Thursday. “There’s a lot of value in ending with di
gnity.”
said Thursday. “There’s a lot of value in ending with dignity.”
Thompson has repeatedly said he would “love to be a Warrior for life,” even if it was too soon Wednesday to address his future as he said he needed to decompress from the early finish.
Dunleavy said he is “hopeful, optimistic” about the sides getting something done.
“I think it’s a mutual feeling. I mean, the guy’s been here a long time. He means so much to the organization,” Dunleavy said. “We really, really value him. So there’s nothing that would make me think that he want to go somewhere else or we don’t want him back. And for that reason I’m hopeful we can make it happen, but, you know, it’s a deal both sides got to be good with it and we’ll work through that.”
Dunleavy also said of Green, “fully expect him to be back,” following a season in which the fiery forward served two suspensions.
The 2022 NBA champions must get better defensively, Dunleavy said, having missed the playoffs following last season’s elimination by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
