Golden State Warriors: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Golden State Warriors were the biggest winners of the summer, signing Kevin Durant. But how’d they manage to replace their lost depth? Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

In a manner of weeks, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors went from the most successful regular season team in NBA history to the greatest team to fail to win a championship of all time. In 2016-17, the revamped Dubs will look to settle the score.

Heading into the offseason, the Warriors — more so than any other team — could’ve settled for bringing back the whole gang for another go-round. They won 73 games and were up 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals, after all, and were quite possibly one Stephen Curry injury/Draymond Green suspension/Harrison Barnes disappearance/otherworldly LeBron James takeover away from winning back-to-back titles.

But the sting of that Finals defeat and the possibility of luring Kevin Durant was too strong, ultimately resulting in perhaps the greatest power play in NBA history. Signing a top-three player and adding him to another top-three player was a coup, but Golden State wasn’t done there.

The Warriors may have been title favorites heading into 2016-17 without Durant, but with him, anything less than a championship would be a disappointment. Here’s a look at Golden State’s potentially history-altering summer with complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: The Draft

The Draft

When your team’s average win total over the last two seasons is 70 games, there’s a good chance you’ll be at the back of the pack come NBA Draft time. With the 30th overall selection in the last two drafts, the Warriors haven’t exactly had prime opportunities to bring elite new talent to the roster.

Yet somehow, the Dubs have managed to continue an ongoing trend under general manager Bob Myers (and former GM Larry Riley near the tail end of his career) of making every pick count — no matter where it lands.

Just like last year’s draft, Golden State watched as a talented, high-upside player fell right into their laps at No. 30, and just like in 2012 when they took Festus Ezeli, that player at No. 30 was a filled out center from Vanderbilt.

One of the more popular choices for the Warriors among mock drafts, Damian Jones is a 7’0″, 245-pound center who averaged 13.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in his junior season at Vandy.

At 20 years old, Jones is already an elite athlete with superb jumping ability, a 7’4″ wingspan and the requisite size to play in this league for a long time — especially on a smart passing team like the Warriors that will enjoy the alley-oop threat he poses when rolling to the rim.

He’s not a polished scorer on the block, but that’s okay for a team that doesn’t exactly specialize in post-up sets anyway. Jones has the foundation of a decent jump shot, which is more than Andrew Bogut or Ezeli could ever claim.

Speaking of which, Jones was a smart pick simply for the fact that Bogut and Ezeli’s standing with the team was in jeopardy due to the pursuit of Kevin Durant. With both of them gone, the selection looks even better now.

The big issue with Jones in college was his consistency, as some games he’d play like a world-beater before disappearing again for 2-3 games at a time. He’s also currently injured and not expected to return until the upcoming season begins.

Long story short though: Damian Jones provides long-term insurance in the frontcourt, has all the physical tools to be dominant playing on a title contender for years to come and represents superb value for the last pick in the first round.

With their second round selection at No. 38, which the Warriors acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks for $2.4 million, the Dubs added to the length and versatility of their auxiliary players by taking Patrick McCaw.

A two-year wing out of UNLV, McCaw could very well represent the Dubs’ long-term successor to Shaun Livingston.

At 20 years old, McCaw averaged 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game during his sophomore season for the Runnin’ Rebels. Unlike Livingston, however, McCaw also boasts the makings of a great shooter, posting .465/.366/.774 shooting splits last year.

According to The Vertical, the Warriors have already signed McCaw to a two-year, fully guaranteed deal, showing their faith in his abilities and compensating for the bench depth that had to be shed in the pursuit of Kevin Durant.

Like Livingston, McCaw’s size at 6’7″ gives him a size advantage over smaller players at his position, while his skills as a point forward, a decent perimeter shooter and a player who can defend multiple positions makes him an ideal fit for a team that prizes two-way versatility.

McCaw needs to get stronger, but having a wiry ball hawk like him learning from an accomplished veteran like Shaun Livingston is only going to help his development.

For the 30th and 38th picks in the draft, Jones and McCaw represent excellent value for a Warriors team looking to replace some of its depth with long-term prospects on cheap rookie deals.

Grade: A-

Next: The Best Acquisition Of The Summer

The Best Acquisition Of The Summer

The reason the Golden State Warriors won the summer? They signed a future Hall of Famer in Kevin Durant. Obviously.

As first announced by Durant himself on The Player’s Tribune, the former Oklahoma City Thunder star will be joining forces with the back-to-back reigning MVP Stephen Curry, his All-NBA backcourt companion Klay Thompson, and the league’s biggest hate-him-or-love-him player, Draymond Green. KD agreed to a two-year, $54.3 million deal with a player option for the second year.

In the process, the Dubs added the 2014 league MVP to the 2015 and 2016 MVP, making themselves automatic favorites to win the title next season. They may not win 73 games again, but there’s no doubt that anything less than a title in 2016-17 would be a massive disappointment.

This 1+1 deal not only forms perhaps the most dynamic super-team in NBA history, but it also gives KD the power to play the year out with the Warriors and rejoin free agency next summer, when the salary cap jumps once again to a projected $102 million.

With a core of Curry, Thompson, KD, Green, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, the Warriors can unleash the most terrifying small-ball unit the league has ever seen, but sacrifices to their bench depth were necessary in order to fill out the roster.

Restricted free agents Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli had to be renounced, signing with the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively. Andrew Bogut had to be dumped. Reserves like Marreese Speights and Leandro Barbosa signed elsewhere for more lucrative deals rather than return on a veteran minimum contract.

Luckily for the Dubs, they now have the most terrifying four-man core in the NBA and that should be fairly attractive to the remaining free agents still on the market. Even before filling out the rest of the roster so efficiently, this move won the offseason for Golden State.

Blue Man Hoop

Moving forward, there will be an adjustment period for Durant and the Warriors. Curry and Durant both need the ball in their hands to be successful, and there still need to be shots to go around for Thompson and Green — who became something of a distraction last year — as well.

However, the Dubs have assembled the closest thing to a Dream Team that’s possible under the current CBA, and there’s no question that KD will benefit from all the open three-point looks that Barnes enjoyed last season.

Barnes shot 38.3 percent from three-point range before falling apart in the last three games of the Finals; good luck expecting the same thing to happen with Durant on the wing. In the event the Splash Brothers start missing all their shots again, Golden State now has a bail-out option with yet another player who can completely take over a game.

The Thunder, Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat all vied for Kevin Durant’s services, and no matter which team he chose, that team would’ve been a bonafide title contender.

The fact that he chose the best team of the bunch — a team whose Finals defeat marked the greatest upset in NBA history after winning 73 games — is downright terrifying for the rest of the league.

Grade: A+

Next: Bye-Bye, Bogut

Bye-Bye, Bogut

In order to clear enough cap space for Durant and bench depth, the Warriors had to shed the final year of Andrew Bogut’s salary.

In a vacuum, trading a championship-caliber center like Bogut (and a 2019 second round pick) for nothing more than a conditional second round pick would be a horrendously one-sided deal.

Though he only averaged 5.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game last year, he was an intrinsic part of Golden State’s defense and and underrated part of their passing on offense. That being said, giving up a 31-year-old injury-prone center is a small price to pay to sign one of the top three players in the NBA.

Though this was a salary dump, the Warriors really didn’t have to give up much to unload Bogut — a move the rest of the league knew was necessary to sign Durant and had little incentive to help facilitate.

Losing their starting center and renouncing the rights to their backup center was a risky endeavor, especially with nothing in return, but the Warriors did what was necessary to land a superstar in his prime with this trade. Even better, they wound up founding an adequate replacement anyway.

Grade: A-

Next: Poaching Pachulia

Poaching Pachulia

With a core of Curry, Thompson, KD, Green, Iguodala and Livingston, the Warriors had already laid the foundations of quite possibly the greatest team in NBA history. Adding veteran center Zaza Pachulia on an unbelievable bargain contract only strengthens their case.

On a one-year, $2.9 million agreement, the Warriors addressed the starting 5-spot with Pachulia, who averaged 8.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season for the Mavericks.

As one of the league’s more underrated defenders who recorded 23 double-doubles last season, the 32-year-old Pachulia brings veteran experience, rebounding and defense to a team that needed all three of those things from whatever replacement center they found.

Zaza is no Bogut, but he’s an adequate fill-in. Plus, a core as sexy as Golden State’s was prime for attracting quality role players willing to sacrifice a pay raise — even amidst the biggest spending spree in NBA history — in the pursuit of a title.

Even with Bogut, Barnes, Ezeli, Barbosa and Speights gone, the lure of Durant, Curry and Thompson spreading the floor was too great for some useful veterans — including Pachulia — who wanted to be a part of NBA history.

Zaza represents the stop-gap at center before head coach Steve Kerr unleashes the most dynamic small-ball lineup in NBA history, and that’s all he really needs to be — especially on that steal of a contract.

Grade: A

Next: Welcome Mr. West

Welcome Mr. West

Speaking of veterans willing to sacrifice big paydays for a chance at a championship, David West jumping ship from the Spurs to the Warriors strengthened Golden State’s frontcourt and bench depth in one fell swoop.

On a one-year, $1.55 million contract, West brings his veteran experience, physical toughness and strong midrange game to a team that needed that exact kind of help rounding out the edge of the roster.

Last season in San Antonio, West averaged 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in 18 minutes per game, shooting a tidy 54.5 percent from the field — including 70.5 percent from the restricted area and 48.6 percent from the midrange, where he took nearly half of his shots.

On a team that thrives with ball movement, West should feast on easy looks at the basket and wide open midrange jumpers. He’s not a high usage guy anymore, but he’s a terrific fit and brings toughness to a team that has long been mistaken for a pushover.

Grade: B+

Next: Odds And Ends

Odds And Ends

Pachulia and West were as far as the Warriors got in convincing free agents to take major discounts to join in their quest for a ring, but they managed to fill the edges of the roster with decent talent nevertheless.

Not only did the Warriors re-sign James Michael McAdoo, Ian Clark and Anderson Varejao for depth, but they also managed to sign “veteran” guard Elliott Williams and give JaVale McGee a chance at redemption with a make-good training camp contract.

McAdoo averaged a meager 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per game last season, but those low numbers were obviously the byproduct of playing for a team with title aspirations. He still has plenty of promise as a 23-year-old.

The same could be said of the 25-year-old Clark, who averaged 3.6 points and 1.0 assists in 8.8 minutes per game. He’ll provide insurance in the backcourt behind Curry and Livingston, and like McAdoo, was signed for to a one-year minimum contract.

The Dubs also re-signed Varejao to a one-year minimum deal, and though the Andy V jokes are still going strong (especially after losing the title), he actually was fairly useful as a third string big, providing offensive rebounds in a few pivotal playoff stretches when Bogut was resting and Ezeli became unplayable.

Then there’s McGee, who will have to prove himself at training camp to earn a roster spot. On a team this good, however, McGee has his best chance at getting his career back on track, even after averaging a meager 5.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Mavs last year.

If McGee can just cut down on his trademark dumb plays, provide rim protection and finish lobs near the basket, he’ll provide the Dubs with some frontcourt depth at the center spot. If there were ever a time for this seven-footer to step up and prove his worth, it’s now.

Finally there’s Williams, a 2010 first round pick who has spent the last six years playing for the Blazers, Sixers, Sixers’ D-League affiliate, Warriors’ D-League affiliate, Jazz, Pelicans, Grizzlies and Greek club Panathinaikos, holds NBA career averages of 4.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game.

This is kind of a shot-in-the-dark addition, but Williams was once a D-League MVP and averaged 28.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game when he played for the Santa Cruz Warriors. A 6’5″ shooting guard on a minimum, partially guaranteed deal isn’t a bad thing to have for depth purposes.

Grade: B-

Next: Overall

Overall

Coming off a historic 73-win season and a disappointing seven-game loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, the Warriors have quickly retooled for another championship run in 2016-17, adding another former MVP to their ranks in a power move that catapults them to the next stratosphere of the NBA ladder.

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After that Finals collapse, there were plenty of unanswered questions to ponder this summer. Was Stephen Curry’s MCL sprain midway through the playoffs part of his inconsistency in the Finals? What happened to Klay Thompson, who ignited one of the greatest players in NBA history thanks to his “This is a man’s league” comments?

Would the Warriors’ fate have been different if Draymond Green hadn’t been suspended for Game 5? And how did one of the NBA’s stingiest defenses fail to slow LeBron James, who dominated every facet of the series from Game 2 onward?

The sting of that Finals loss will never fade, but with the addition of Kevin Durant, those questions are rendered all but irrelevant.

When you add one of the top five players in the league to another top-five player, when you have a core of pissed off stars looking to avenge playoff defeats after going up 3-1, and when you have a roster where Klay Thompson is your fourth best player, chances are you’re going to alter the course of the 2016-17 season — and possibly NBA history in general.

More hoops habit: San Antonio Spurs: 2016 Offseason Grades

Throw in the fact that the Dubs managed to find a phenomenal passer and underrated defender at the center spot to replace Bogut, while also bringing in David West and a few other key veterans, and it’s easy to see why Golden State handily won the offseason.

Grade: A+