2) Golden State - The draymond suspension has not helped them at all, but everyone outside of Curry seems to be having some issues. Klay looks quite washed up. Wiggins seems to have fallen off a cliff since his personal isues last month. They have a couple of rookies that are playing well, but how do they fix this to get above .500?
Golden State need a major trade.
They have only one high level player on their roster in Steph Curry. The rest are all role players. Steph needs some help.
Klay Thompson needs to go. GSW will never do it. They are committed to allowing their Big Three to finish their careers there and it is going to stop them from challenging for another title. Steph still has another title run in him. Maybe a few. They need to be cut-throat and get him the help.
Klay was great for Steph in part because of his defense. He helped balance that perimeter D next to Steph. Ever since the injury, he can no longer play D at an above average rate anymore. Steph needs quality defenders alongside him. Like Jokic does in DEN. Or Luka in DAL. They can't carry these bad defenders next to them.
Golden State's defense has been this bad because of the downfall of their perimeter defense. There is no way a defense-only role player like Gary Payton III should have as large an impact as he does for them. Or did particularly in the 2022 Finals against us. And it is precisely because he is their only guard who can play plus defense. Top notch defense to be more precise. Steph was their next best defender. Then Klay. Then Poole now Podziemski. And CP3.
CP3 has been a massive failure for GSW. He makes them too small. They shift Klay to SF. Klay doesn't rebound. CP3 doesn't rebound. Steph barely rebounds. So GSW gets no rebounding from 3 perimeter spots. It makes them too small. They get beaten up. They cannot compete in the playoffs playing like this. They have to get their size back. They have to get their defense back. They have to restore their perimeter defense. And to do that they have to get rid of Klay. And probably CP3 as well.
GSW needs to go all in. Youngsters, picks, and old big contracts like Klay & CP3 into trades to bring back win-now players. Go all-in on Steph's last few years. If they do that, they have another title run in them. If they don't, they will be a middle of the road team as they are now.
They have to chose loyalty to their old guard or ambition to win another Championship.
I hope they choose winning.