We are living in a time of distorted NBA reality. The anomaly that is the Golden State Warriors has reset the compass on how you build a franchise. It’s also moved the goal post on what building an NBA team looks like.
After being blown out in their first game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State is starting to find their stride. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are playing more minutes together. Zaza Pachulia and Javale McGee have rounded into a complimentary big man rotation. They have only seven losses and have won by an average of 12.7 per game.
This is happening at the same time many teams are struggling through the dark winter days of the season. At the midway point, a month away still from the reprieve of the all-star break, this is the hardest stretch physically and emotionally for teams to navigate.
Through these struggles we’ve seen star players lash out at their teams in comparative frustration.
First it was LeBron James. You can understand why he is upset, as he’s 2-6 in his last eight games. Last time he’s lost six games in an eight game stretch was March of 2011.
LeBron responded by calling out his front office for standing pat, which, by default, means he’s calling out his current teammates.
“It’s like when you don’t have bodies,” James said earlier this week. “It’s tough … The (expletive) grind of the regular season. We’re a top-heavy team. We top-heavy as (expletive). It’s me, [Kyrie Irving], [Kevin Love]. I’m not singling out anybody … I’m not. Yeah, we won [the championship], but (expletive), you know what, let’s see if we can do something.”
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The King then took to Twitter to clarify his comments. But also suggested the organization may not be as motivated to repeat as he is.
Next it was his former teammate Dwyane Wade. Wade wondered if some Bulls were motivated only to “wear an NBA jersey and make some money.” He then added “I can look at Jimmy [Butler] and say Jimmy’s doing his job. Jimmy can look at me and say Dwyane’s doing his job. I don’t know if we can keep going down the line and be able to say that.”
Butler agreed: “We don’t play hard enough,” the all-star starter said. “This is your job. I want to play with guys who care.”
Soon after, the not-so-friendly fire continued as Rajon Rondo criticized his outspoken teammates in comparing them to the Celtics when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined up with Paul Pierce and won a championship.
Rondo’s criticism of his teammates for talking to the media was hypocritical, considering he did it via social media. Furthermore, Rajon has now been benched by his third team in three years. He might want to do some self reflection before casting aspersions.
The Bulls stars in the offseason called themselves “the three alphas.” The assumption was the best way to combat the super team in the Bay area is create one in the Midwest. Yet, this current league scenario is much different from when Wade persuaded James to take his talents to South Beach. Derrick Rose claimed the Knicks were a super team when he and Joakim Noah joined Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis in New York. There is a good chance Noah, Rose and Anthony won’t be Knicks by the end of the season.
Wade is right. The Bulls aren’t good enough. But it’s not because their young guys don’t try. It’s because their top players, like the Knicks, aren’t in their prime. We’ve seen super teams assemble for years. That phenomenon isn’t new. We forget about Clyde Drexler and then Charles Barkley flocking to play with Hakeem Olajuwon in the ’90’s. The difference is now the Warriors did it while their players are ascending assets.
Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are both 28 years old. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are just 26. The difference with Golden State is their best guys are their young guys. It breaks the construct of what we thought a super team would and could be.
Wade lashing out at his team is the equivalent to an old man screaming at moving clouds. His team by design, is nowhere near being at the championship level he’s grown accustomed to. That level of excellence is now much higher.
LeBron isn’t as delusional in his critique. The Cavs are top heavy. And it’s a problem the majority of the league would love to have.
With James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, and Tristan Thompson they are the only team that boasts four top five NBA draft picks. But they aren’t more top heavy then the Warriors who rolled the dice and lost their depth in exchange for signing Kevin Durant. The Warriors slogan was “strength in numbers.” But when Durant was available they rightly pivoted from that mantra.
However, that was an anomaly. Because of the increase in salary cap space thanks to the NBA’s TV contract adding an infusion of cash and the NBAPA voting against a smoothing provision; the Warriors had a perfect storm of cap room. Not to mention they had the unanimous MVP on the books at a bargain price. This year, Curry is making $12.1 million, making him the 82nd highest-paid player in the NBA and the 16th highest-paid point guard. Those savings are the reason why the Warriors can afford to have Klay Thompson, Draymond Green (who also are on team friendly deals) and still find room for Durant. But it still meant the rest of the Warriors roster had to be pieced together by drafting and developing unheralded players like Kevon Looney and Patrick McCaw.
A confluence of factors created the juggernaut that is Golden State. So LeBron is correct. The Cavs do need help in order to compete with them. The Warriors beatdown of the Cavs by the score of 126-91 on Martin Luther King day was a wake up call.
But it’s not a spending issue, as he suggests. The Cavaliers’ payroll is over $127 million, by far the largest in the NBA. This is the third consecutive year Dan Gilbert will pay the luxury tax. The Cavs have spent more than any franchise in the history of the league since LeBron’s return. Surely, Dan Gilbert is making money off of bringing a championship back to Cleveland, so don’t feel bad for him. But after that deed has been done at some point you get diminishing returns when you’re paying the repeater tax for remaining a luxury tax paying team.
The issue is that Golden State has changed the equation of how you build a team. After setting the record for wins in a season, they improved and are number one in offensive and defensive efficiency. Some of it is good fortune, which other combating franchises can’t replicate. But mainly it’s a very easy formula: The Warriors best players are better than your best players. Having to come to terms with that might be tough to swallow. The face of the league is changing. This is the first year that Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony will not join LeBron James as NBA all-stars since their rookie seasons.
The answer is not to plea to others for more. It is to do more. Assuming you still can.