Golden State Warriors have a decision to make with No. 2 pick

Knowing where they’re drafting brings some clarity, but the Golden State Warriors still have to decide if the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft is worth making.

After months of speculation, the Golden State Warriors have the answer to the question that’s been raised every since they comfortably nestled into the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Thanks to the draft lottery results, whenever the 2020 NBA Draft takes place, Golden State will be armed with the No. 2 overall pick.

Though a step down from their league-worst record, a fate finally determined allows them to move forward with a wide range of possibilities that come with the largest stakes among fellow lottery teams.

Rare is the team set to pick no lower than fifth expecting the return of a core that, when last seen together, was playing in their fifth consecutive Finals.

Klay Thompson‘s ACL is fully healed. Stephen Curry should see more than just five games. The presence of both should reignite the energy and intensity sorely — yet justifiably — lacking in Draymond Green this past season.

If this Big Three doesn’t immediately return Golden State to the category of championship contenders, it certainly gives them an incentive to try and get there.

As the Warriors can attest, getting there isn’t done with players fresh out of the lottery. Those 19 and 20-something-year-olds need to establish their place in the NBA as individuals before they can become part of a whole. That requires a level of patience and development the Dubs can’t afford to provide in their current state.

Their run of excellence has lasted longer than most, but it’s creeping closer to the end than it is emerging from the beginning. Each of Curry, Thompson and Green have passed the age-30 threshold. All carry with them the deterioration five straight Finals runs are bound to produce.

It’d be negligent for the Warriors to waste the unknowable number of years this trio has left doing anything less than all they can to maximize their title chances. Especially in a Western Conference that somehow continues to see a yearly top-to-bottom improvement,

You don’t reach that ceiling by placing excess amounts of faith in a rookie of any magnitude. It’s why the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t hesitate to swap Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love in the summer of 2014.

Golden State likely can’t swing for an All-Star, but a team lacking much around a nucleus that includes Wiggins could benefit from players Steve Kerr can trust with 20-plus minutes in the postseason. Not a youngster still learning the hard differences between college and NBA basketball.

The Warriors aren’t just set to return to being good. The presence of Curry and co. is a stark reminder of the steep price ownership has locked itself into paying. That includes four players earning north of $20 million a year.

Financials around the NBA are up in the air under the current circumstances. Yet as one of the few teams set to pay the luxury tax, it’s hard to imagine the Warriors are completely let off the hook any longer than a single year.

Rookie scale contracts aren’t the bargain deals they used to be, but they’re still a cheap alternative when it comes to finding high-upside talent. Instead of fighting against a market that could land a desired free agent in excess of $15 and even $20 million, the No. 2 pick would earn $17.6 million combined in his first two seasons before team options kick in.

Every penny hurts teams in the luxury tax, but the depth to which the knife twists is noticeably shallower compared to the lucrative contracts many middling free agents are earning.

The pros and cons of a decision that will chart the next five years for the Golden State Warriors would be a lot easier to weigh in the presence of a draft class that offered more stability than this one.

Leading up to the 2019 NBA draft, the consensus order of the top three picks was clear. Zion Williamson would be first. Ja Morant was to go No. 2. RJ Barrett would be selected with the third pick. In 2020, the guess is as good as even the most uninformed draft analysts. Worse, teams are limited in their ability to find out for themselves.

COVID-19 has moved the draft combine to a virtual setting. Pre-draft interviews will be conducted in a similar fashion. There’s only so much information even the savviest of front offices can glean off a computer screen.

Most dynasties don’t get a one-off season to recharge and return with an asset as valuable as a top-two pick in the NBA draft. It comes with its fair share of baggage. A pick that high also has the ability to aid the Golden State Warriors on their quest back to their comfort spot atop the NBA’s hierarchy.

A team that’s always appeared light years ahead simply has to figure out in what form those contributions would look like.