The Golden State Warriors recently announced they would be moving to San Francisco, drawing the ire of some Bay Area residents. One notable critic is Kevin Durant who said he’d take a pay cut if it meant staying in Oakland. However, the team’s owner Joe Lacob says that won’t happen and has fired back at his top player for being ungrateful.
The “who owns the warriors” is a question that has been asked for years. The answer to this question is Joe Lacob, who bought the Golden State Warriors in 2010 and has been their Governor ever since.
The Golden State Warriors’ championship run has been extended. After missing the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Warriors are back in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years, with a victory against the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics giving them a chance to capture their fourth championship in this era.
The Warriors’ return to this position has been a fascinating one, with many fans and pundits questioning some of the team’s moves along the road. Given its current success, it looks that it made the correct decisions, and governor Joe Lacob recently commented on one of the most contentious decisions at a news conference.
He was succinct in his statement.
Joe Lacob discussed the Warriors’ lack of involvement in the NBA Draft in 2021.
Joe Lacob, the governor of the Golden State Warriors, during Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on May 22, 2018. | Bay Area News Group/Nhat V. Meyer via Getty Images
Many people, including me, thought the Warriors should have utilized their two lottery selections in the 2021 NBA Draft to sign an established star who might have aided them this season. Perhaps a few of their young assets should have been added to secure a large return.
Nobody knew what the Warriors’ fate would be. They had missed the playoffs the previous two seasons due to injuries to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (Steph played just five games and Klay didn’t play at all during the 2019-20 season), and Thompson also missed the whole 2020-21 season.
Everyone understood that if Thompson stayed healthy, the Warriors would be able to return to the Western Conference playoffs. The addition of just one more talented veteran may have pushed them over the top.
Golden State, on the other hand, did not trade any of its draft selections. Jonathan Kuminga was chosen at No. 7 and Moses Moody was chosen at No. 14.
Lacob is well aware that the franchise has been chastised for focusing on the future rather than aiding its present nucleus of Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green. But, because the Warriors are in the NBA Finals in 2022, can we criticize their strategy?
“The fact that we are where we are, and these guys (Kuminga and Moody) have both contributed,” Lacob said (h/t 95.7 The Game), noting that 19-year-olds haven’t historically played much during deep playoff runs. “… What they’ve done is great. … I know we took – I, [general manager] Bob (Myers), the organization – took some criticism from people that, ‘We should trade all our draft choices that we had to get one more great player.’ I was very adamant about it, so was Bob, that that was not the path we were going down. We want to be good for a long time. We want to be great for a long time.”
Is it possible that the Warriors made the right choice at the draft?
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No one can dispute the Warriors at this moment, as previously stated. They’ve returned to the Finals.
However, this does not always imply that they made the best option. The outcome is unknown.
This season, Kuminga has averaged 9.3 points in 16.9 minutes a night, while Moody has averaged 4.4 points in 11.7 minutes per night. In the playoffs, neither rookie has played more than 11 minutes.
Perhaps these two young players will play a vital role in future seasons. However, if the Warriors had traded those selections, they may have gotten a player who could have aided them in this year’s Finals, or the star would have just added another chef to the kitchen, making things more difficult.
It’s difficult to determine which path would have been the best to adopt.
The decision to preserve their youthful assets was one that was 100 percent right. Jordan Poole has blossomed into a standout this season, scoring 18.5 points per game. Without him, Golden State would not be in this situation.
Last summer, Joe Lacob and the Warriors’ front management were unfairly chastised. While making a change may have enhanced their squad, maintaining their draft selections certainly didn’t hurt. They now have the opportunity to create history and prolong their reign as the generation’s dynasty.
Basketball Reference provided the statistics.
Draymond Green claims the Warriors were already a dynasty when they reached the NBA Finals in 2022.
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