The Golden State Warriors saw their title defense come to an end in the Western Conference Semifinals this year. On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena, 122-101, to win their series in six games and send Golden State into the offseason far sooner than it would have liked.
It marked the first time that a healthy Warriors team failed to make at least the conference finals since 2014, and now, the front office has to figure out a number of things if they want to get back to their championship winning ways. Steve Kerr addressed this after Game 6, as he made clear that the team just was not good enough to get the job done.
“To be fair I think this team ultimately maxed out,” Kerr said after the game, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “We were barely in the playoff picture most of this year … This is not a championship team.”
The most pressing things are the futures of a trio that have been at the center of the Warriors’ success. Draymond Green has a player option for next year, general manager Bob Myers is out of contract this summer, and Klay Thompson is eligible for an extension. There are also the futures of some of the team’s younger players, like Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga, and whether Golden State wants to continue hoping they can contribute to a contender or if they need to be flipped for more win-now pieces.
