It's been roughly forty years since this Golden State Warriors franchise have won a championship. To most of my readers out there, you were not even alive during that time. A lot of us have come to accept that winning an NBA championship are for big market teams. Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and Chicago are a few big market cities that come to mind.
We're too accustomed to settling for just having a "good time" at Oracle Arena. It's time to put this franchise on the map, and establish a winning culture- not just within the organization but with this fan base as well.
How Good is this Core?
I believe a lot of you are afraid of answering this question. But I'll answer it for you anyways. This is a 60 win team this season and one of the most balanced out there.
No other point guard has the shooting ability of Stephen Curry. Add the improved play making skills from last season, and you have a top five player in the Association.
Klay Thompson is the best sharp shooting two-guard in the league. And one of the best at defending his position.
Harrison Barnes will benefit significantly from Kerr's new motion offense and Andre Iguodala will be more assertive on the offensive end.
David Lee is considered to be the weak link in this starting lineup. But I think any team can use a forward who scores 18 points and 9 rebounds a game.
Andrew Bogut is the key component. If healthy, the Warriors are more than capable of beating the Clippers, Rockets, and Spurs in the West.
The addition of Shaun Livingston will create a more stable 3 guard rotation. Livingston is a solid role player who can handle the ball and defend shooting guards- something this team was lacking last season. Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Rush will add a little more punch to the end of their bench.
Current Competition
The San Antonio Spurs dethroning the Miami Heat last season showed the world that nothing lasts forever.
The Spurs are good, but are aging. The Heat will digress without Lebron James. Do we really believe Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will play cohesive team basketball next season in Cleveland? The Thunder will be without Durant for a good portion of the year and Westbrook is too volatile to trust. Who knows if fragile Derrick Rose can play a whole season for the Bulls.
The fact of the matter is that there's no dominant team out there, and any current NBA team is beatable in a seven game series.
Expectations for this Season and Beyond
It's time to put this notion out there. We have a narrow window to win it all with this core. To have a bay area perspective, the SF Giants had that window of opportunity in 2010. They clearly were not the best team by record but had a nice group of home grown players to make a run. They rewarded the franchise with two World Series titles, and on the brink of a 3rd parade in this decade.
The same can apply to this core. Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green, Ezeli: homegrown players that the franchise will rely on to produce. And to produce now.
If you're waiting for another all star to play for the Warriors, via free agency or trade: Stop hoping for that dream. Salary cap restrictions will make it extremely difficult to nearly impossible to sign a top all star player, and trading for that dream player will require giving up Thompson or Curry.
It's time to stop settling for mediocrity within this fan base. Just getting to the second round is unacceptable.
This core is good enough to win the NBA Finals within four years, with the ability of making multiple Finals appearances.
Yes, you heard correctly. I expect this team to win it all, and so should you.
