There's a proven blueprint for success. So why didn't the Dubs follow it?

[WarriorGM]

During the Dubs championship years, they had a proven blueprint for success if you look at their roster construction.

You had Steph, Klay, and Draymond. Then you had Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut or Barnes and Iguodala. They were so lethal they were called the Death Lineup.

Then you had the years with KD and they were just overwhelming.

But then after KD left the team rebuilt and found success with a lineup of Steph, Klay and Draymond with the addition of Wiggins and Looney or in the finals against the Celtics Otto Porter Jr. in place of Looney.

Now compare the above lineups to the main lineups the Dubs were trotting out in the playoffs this year. Does anything stick out to anyone else? In place of Looney or Porter Jr. the Dubs were putting in JaMychal Green and GPII against the Lakers. Did anyone really think that would be an improvement?

In hindsight I would say the JaMychal Green signing was pretty fatal for the team's chances this year because he was ineffective as a substitute for Looney in that lineup. Wiseman was a distraction. Kuminga or Lamb had to fill in but they were either unready or Kerr wouldn't play them. GPII was simply out of place and Donte unfortunately looked better than he really was. That's 5 players that couldn't really fill in that the team desperately needed to fill the hole.

[Sleepy51]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

[BayAreaDub]

They tried to stick Poole in there too.

Too many 3 guard lineups. Maybe stats prove they were good but I cringed every time I saw Klay+Poole+another guard on the floor together.

Kuminga could’ve gotten a shot in the playoffs. We all know how that went. Probably would’ve flipped too tho. Maybe next year.

Bogut was never part of the death lineup. Curry/Klay/Andre/Barnes/Green

Curry/Klay/Wiggins/OPJ/Green

It’ll be hard to replicate at this point, especially with the decline of Klay.

[WarriorGM]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

Poeltl was brought up by others during the season but I think Muscala might have been worth going after I found out he moved to the Celtics.

The thing with JMG is that he might have made sense at the start of the season but after seeing him play in the regular season he was flashing danger signs. Insisting on playing him in the playoffs felt like desperation to me. That's another thing with Kerr: why did he have to fall back on lineups that barely played during the regular season? These lineups with Steph, Klay, Draymond, Wiggins, and either JMG or GPII were largely untested. The logical choice based on the regular season was probably Lamb. Despite all the moaning that draws from the people around here the fact remains he had the performance from the regular season to back him up. If that wasn't enough then I have to conclude Kerr doesn't know how to use the regular season to set up the team for success in the playoffs.

[Sleepy51]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

Poeltl was brought up by others during the season but I think Muscala might have been worth going after I found out he moved to the Celtics.

The thing with JMG is that he might have made sense at the start of the season but after seeing him play in the regular season he was flashing danger signs. Insisting on playing him in the playoffs felt like desperation to me. That's another thing with Kerr: why did he have to fall back on lineups that barely played during the regular season? These lineups with Steph, Klay, Draymond, Wiggins, and either JMG or GPII were largely untested. The logical choice based on the regular season was probably Lamb. Despite all the moaning that draws from the people around here the fact remains he had the performance from the regular season to back him up. If that wasn't enough then I have to conclude Kerr doesn't know how to use the regular season to set up the team for success in the playoffs.

Were Poetl or Muscala vet min signings? (I don't actually know) Because that's pretty much all we had to work with for a signing.

Lamb hit a wall at the end of the regular season that almost always happens with Go Hards. Hi only skill was really effort and while there are ample opportunities to outhustle other teams in most of the regular season as teams start playing with focus and intensity and chasing playoff position everyone is going hard. Lamb fell back behind the pack as more talented players around the league stopped giving up those lapses that created openings for him to succeed. He was basically unplayable over the last month of the season. Kerr absolutely loved the guy, but if Kerr stopped playing him it's not big mystery that he just wasn't having any positive impact anymore.

This has happed to better players than Lamb. David Lee is our most famous example. A regular season all star, but a bench player in a playoff campaign. Donte also may have run into this buzzsaw as he was unable to make a positive impact against playoff intensity as well.

[Coxy]

Proven blueprint? Life isn't that smooth.

[KevinMcreynolds]

We got lucky with OPJ. He was coming off a bunch of injury plagued seasons so we got him for cheap, he stayed healthy, and now he’s injury plagued again.

JMG was cheap because he’s just not very good. I doubt he was ever expected to be a big part of the rotation.

[WarriorGM]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

Poeltl was brought up by others during the season but I think Muscala might have been worth going after I found out he moved to the Celtics.

The thing with JMG is that he might have made sense at the start of the season but after seeing him play in the regular season he was flashing danger signs. Insisting on playing him in the playoffs felt like desperation to me. That's another thing with Kerr: why did he have to fall back on lineups that barely played during the regular season? These lineups with Steph, Klay, Draymond, Wiggins, and either JMG or GPII were largely untested. The logical choice based on the regular season was probably Lamb. Despite all the moaning that draws from the people around here the fact remains he had the performance from the regular season to back him up. If that wasn't enough then I have to conclude Kerr doesn't know how to use the regular season to set up the team for success in the playoffs.

Were Poetl or Muscala vet min signings? (I don't actually know) Because that's pretty much all we had to work with for a signing.

Lamb hit a wall at the end of the regular season that almost always happens with Go Hards. Hi only skill was really effort and while there are ample opportunities to outhustle other teams in most of the regular season as teams start playing with focus and intensity and chasing playoff position everyone is going hard. Lamb fell back behind the pack as more talented players around the league stopped giving up those lapses that created openings for him to succeed. He was basically unplayable over the last month of the season. Kerr absolutely loved the guy, but if Kerr stopped playing him it's not big mystery that he just wasn't having any positive impact anymore.

This has happed to better players than Lamb. David Lee is our most famous example. A regular season all star, but a bench player in a playoff campaign. Donte also may have run into this buzzsaw as he was unable to make a positive impact against playoff intensity as well.

Poeltl was probably out of reach with an 8.5 million salary. Muscala got 3.5 million with the Celtics.

Did Lamb really hit a wall at the end of the regular season? I thought the reason he wasn't playing was he was near the limit allowed for his contract before he was fully signed. His being suddenly on the outs was as mysterious as Kuminga's and Moody suddenly being in. I think your hunch that Kerr was just forced to play Moody makes sense and Kerr defaulting to vets explains the other two.

[whatisacenter]

Klay and Draymond have declined and extending them will be the death of future success.

[Onus]

We really missed out on Love as a buy out option.

[Upperclass]

Kerr didn't like coaching that team from day1 and it's pretty clear they are cleaning house. I think he is aligning himself with Dray right now to look like it wasn't his decision to move him, when he's not resigned in July.

[DonaldSanders]

There was no vet min signing we truly missed out on, the problem is that our draft picks didn't pan out as much as they should have (hopefully Kuminga makes that leap this year). The Nuggets got bench contributions from a rookie this whole playoff run.

Klay/Poole need to not both be on this team. They are way too similar right now, you can't play them both at the same time and expect success. The problem is that we're kind of painted into a corner unless management has the balls to trade Klay for some misc pieces as an expiring to another team with a little bit of tax savings (this year). Poole's value is too low to really get anything, so we'll end up playing him again this year it looks like, at least until he revives some value.

I don't think there is a blueprint we missed last year player-wise, the main issue was not playing guys more based on merit (meaning benching vets like Klay/Poole when they stunk it up) but even that likely wasn't the true cause. Steve is really into not going negative on people, but it was at the expense of the morale of the bench guys. Honestly unless we shake things up in some way I see as like those Pistons teams that went deep-ish into the playoffs for awhile with their guys but never went anywhere again. Father Time.

[Sleepy51]

There was no vet min signing we truly missed out on, the problem is that our draft picks didn't pan out as much as they should have (hopefully Kuminga makes that leap this year). The Nuggets got bench contributions from a rookie this whole playoff run.

Mike Brown stuck with a struggling Keegan Murray and it paid off big in Game 6. JK got minimal minutes and then got punished because Alex Len ran him over crashing the boards. Kuminga was ready to contribute. Kerr panicked.

[DonaldSanders]

There was no vet min signing we truly missed out on, the problem is that our draft picks didn't pan out as much as they should have (hopefully Kuminga makes that leap this year). The Nuggets got bench contributions from a rookie this whole playoff run.

Mike Brown stuck with a struggling Keegan Murray and it paid off big in Game 6. JK got minimal minutes and then got punished because Alex Len ran him over crashing the boards. Kuminga was ready to contribute. Kerr panicked.

I understood him not playing in the Kings series (or little) but we needed him in the Lakers series. We really needed an athletic guy who could get to the hoop. Our hail mary for this season is really Kuminga's development. He has to play big minutes all year and we basically bank on his improvement. The options we have are very slim.

[oaktownwarriors87]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

It sounded like Bob didn't believe Kerr would have played anyone they could have signed or traded for.


Then again, Kerr didn't play Lamb and he can't rebound or defend the rim. So why did they sign him? If he's not going to make the playoff rotation you might as well sign a big man as insurance for Looney. They could have gone after Favors, Love and Chriss to name a few.

It feels like Bob and Kerr had differing points of view and there may have been a disconnect.

[Crazy-Canuck]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

Not a bet min, but we could have signed brown instead of ddv with some of the mle money.

Yutaka was the min guy I wanted last off season, he fit.

Both guys would have immensely helped us, but we went after another pg.

[HiRez]

What no one wants to talk about is that Klay, Draymond, and yes, even Steph are all declining. No one can dispute what they've accomplished, but you can't go into this season with blinders on thinking we have these 3 basketball gods and everything should be fine anymore. They need, and will increasingly need, additional help. They couldn't get past the flawed Lakers. I do not believe they would have stood a chance in hell of beating the Nuggets if they had. And next year, the young Kings team they barely squeezed past will be even better, and more experienced. Sorry but minor tweaks around the fringes aren't going to cut it anymore. They need a major shakeup. That "blueprint" doesn't work anymore because the base of it isn't the same and never will be again.

[EvanZ]

Who were the 4/5’s that did get signed for vet minimum elsewhere last season? JMG flopped, but who did they miss on that they should have signed in his place?

Not a bet min, but we could have signed brown instead of ddv with some of the mle money.

It is very likely that the Warriors went after Bruce Brown and he chose Denver. Brown was highly coveted and everyone knew it.

[Old_Blue]

My sense is that the Lacobs started meddling to a great degree in the process of roster construction, to the chagrin and eventual departure of Myers. Joe Lacob is on record as saying that Wiseman was his #1 and calling him a "once in a decade kind of guy." As a fan, I don't need or want an owner having an opinion about draft picks. As a businessman, an owner is qualified to make business decisions - not lineup decisions. This is why we have Presidents of Basketball Operations and General Managers. The best owners shut up and sign checks.

[CDM_Stats]

What no one wants to talk about is that Klay, Draymond, and yes, even Steph are all declining. No one can dispute what they've accomplished, but you can't go into this season with blinders on thinking we have these 3 basketball gods and everything should be fine anymore. They need, and will increasingly need, additional help. They couldn't get past the flawed Lakers. I do not believe they would have stood a chance in hell of beating the Nuggets if they had. And next year, the young Kings team they barely squeezed past will be even better, and more experienced. Sorry but minor tweaks around the fringes aren't going to cut it anymore. They need a major shakeup. That "blueprint" doesn't work anymore because the base of it isn't the same and never will be again.

The blueprint is why several of the 2nd tier stars like Wiggins and Looney are so effective.. the failure is when the role players don't fit their roles. If getting role players that fit is tweaks, then yes that should be fine. If its considered major, ok sure.. but the failure was everything beyond the starting 5 + DDV. Wiseman and Kuminga, 2 early lotto picks, gave us practically nothing. Neither is their fault, just bad drafting. Moody was capable but we needed to get Lamb those minutes, it was crucial Lamb understand the system he was watching from the bench in the playoffs. Poole continued to flatline as a team player. JMG continued to show why he's a journeyman. Iguodala was basically a coach.

Despite the abject failure of the 7-12 guys, Wiggins missing the majority of the season, and Kerr's poor ability to develop and instill BBIQ in young players, the team still made it to the semis.. even the championship teams that didnt have KD were constructed extremely well