2021-2022 AROUND the NBA: GSW Champs [ARCHIVED]

[mvossman]

Because of the CAP situation, this will not bear fruit any time soon, but I do think Nico/Kidd are going to be more attractive for future free agents than Rick and Donnie.  It will help that Luka will be entering his prime and we should have an outside chance at a championship every year.  Benchmarks for the next year are:

-Can we retain JB?
-Can we make a good draft pick?
-Do we do something with THJ?
-Do we extend DP and Maxi?

Is our team better this year?  That's an interesting question.  I'm going to lean towards yes.  The core players (Luka, JB, God King) are all improved but I've been lowkey impressed by Bullock in the two playoff games.  Jury is out Spencer.  He was great after the trade but I don't think he's performed close to that level so far in the playoffs.  Maybe that's good news for the Mavs if he can figure it out and turn it up a notch.  Bertans is whatever.  I don't think we really miss KP much like I don't think we really miss THJ, though I think THJ could be useful in spots this series with Luka out.

Don't think we are missing KP specifically, but we are missing big depth after his departure.  We are also missing THJ offense, especially with no Luka or KP.  He was one of the few guys that showed out the last two playoff series.

As for our cap situation, I don't see any reasonable avenue to having cap space anytime soon.  Oddly, the KP trade made that even more the case.  We are stuck with that Bertans contract, and right now it looks like Din is a good long term fit.

Given that, we should retain everyone we can.  Brunson is obviously at the top of the list, but it would make sense to retain DP and Maxi on reasonable deals.  We do have a roster crunch with too many wings and an incoming pick.  Combine that with a need for one more high level starter and frontcourt depth issues, and some kind of 2 for 1 trade for a starting big would make a lot of sense.  Given our lack of assets, there is a good chance one of the outgoing pieces will be the pick.