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.
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