It Sure Seems Like Warriors Owner Joe Lacob Is Laying The Early Groundwork For The Possibility That The Warriors Core Trio Might Be Coming To An End

Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.

In a sense, the Warriors are a bit of a ticking timebomb. Not only because of the age of their roster and the fact that they are in "win now" mode. Seeing as how they just won the NBA title (sigh), I'd say they are maximizing their window. But there's also the whole "future of their core" issue that is going to have to be sorted out rather quickly. This past offseason the Warriors took care of both Jordan Poole (4/128M), Andrew Wiggins (4/109M) and Kevon Looney (3/22.5M) to keep them around long term, which put the price of winning at around $500M

At some point, the Warriors were going to have to make some tough choices right? I get these guys are billionaires and all that and I know winning is expensive, but man. That's a whole lot of money before you even get into the futures of Klay and Draymond.

If you listen to Warriors owner Joe Lacob, it's tough to think he's not already laying the groundwork for a reality in which one or both of the core guys are no longer around. 

Right, Joe? Or can you tell Curry, Draymond and Klay that they will be Warriors as long as they want to be?

“Whether we like to hear this or not, players do get older and their skills erode; the question is trying to time all that,” Lacob said. “We would like them to retire, all three of them, as Warriors. I really would like that. We really would like that. And I think they would like that. And we’re going to try to do that if it makes sense.

“But unfortunately, if you look through the history of professional sports, let’s look at the NBA in particular, it usually doesn’t end that way. Players want to hang on sometimes a little longer than they can or should. Organizations sometimes want to hang on to a dream longer. So you’re trying to put all that into perspective and trying to balance it all. Bill Walsh, I think I’ve quoted him before, once said, ‘Better to trade a player a year too early than a year too late.’ I’m not saying we’re thinking like that necessarily, but it’s really an important statement. You don’t want to go through a decade of being bad, either, for our fans, right? It’s a very difficult calculus.

“I want to keep those guys here. I want them to be here. As long as they’re playing at a very high level, rest assured they will be here. I would love obviously for some of them to sacrifice (in salary) a little bit, or what they perceive as a sacrifice, to stay and to help our organization maintain a great roster. You always hope for that. It usually doesn’t happen. And I can’t blame them because they have limited life spans as players and they want to make as much money as they can.”

Nothing about these quotes are crazy, it all makes sense. But it is interesting to hear the owner talking this way. Especially when you remember how Klay was talking after his awesome 54 the other day

and let's not forget about how Draymond was talking over the summer about how he wants a max extension himself

you add all that to the way Lacob is talking and I don't think it's crazy to speculate if this could truly be the end of this Warriors trio. Now, there is the possibility that Draymond learns he isn't getting his max extension and the market for him isn't great, so he opts into his $27M player option. If GS feels like Draymond is going to opt out and leave for nothing if he doesn't get what he wants, well then they have to make a decision. Do you trade him this season so you prevent losing the asset for nothing? He's a pretty important piece to their puzzle, especially in the postseason, so that'd be a tough call to make. But if he opts into that player option, you simply do the same exercise again next year (assuming there's no extension).

With Klay, it's a little different. He has a fully guaranteed year next season at $41M, so they know for sure he'll be back next year. But once you get to that point, you have the same questions about Klay as you do Draymond. Would the Warriors pick one over the other? You could say that with Poole and Wiggins locked in that Klay's position is maybe more replaceable, but we're talking about one of the greatest shooters ever here. Poole and Wiggins are nice players, but they provide a different skillset compared to Klay, even in this current version.

I'm not really sure there could be anything Joe Lacob could say that would appease Warriors fans other than 

"We're re-signing everyone no matter the cost, fuck the tax"

just like they did in 2022. But reading those quotes and that entire story, I'm not sure that's what is about to happen. If they win another title? Sure maybe that softens the blow a little bit and the Warriors just pay whatever again. But if they don't? Well, then you have to seriously consider big time extensions for two players that are about to enter their mid 30s. 

Steph is slated to return to action next Friday for the 9th seeded Warriors, but as of today they sit just 2 games out of a top 4 seed. As long as this team is healthy I'm not sure their seeding matters as long as they can get into the top 6, I don't think I have to remind you what they just accomplished together last Spring. 

Who knows, it might be the last time we ever see this historic Dynasty trio in a playoff series together. Finally.