Editor's note: Tanner actually submitted this before the Warriors started the season 2-0, somehow the stupid editor just took forever to post it. In my defense there was a Jean Claude Van Damme marathon I was partaking in on my couch, so it's not like there was really a choice in the matter.
With the 1-6 49ers well on their way to nailing my 9-7, division-winning season prediction, I thought I’d stop by and crack another egg of knowledge on your head, this time previewing one of the proudest franchises in all of sports, The Golden State Warriors.
You can’t talk about the NBA offseason without mentioning the one thing that was on everybody’s mind---would Chris Cohan finally die and rot in hell, oops, I mean, would he finally sell the Warriors. Dreams do come true, apparently, b/c he not only sold the team he sold it to a pretty awesome duo: one guy who’s from the Bay Area and has been a minority owner of the Celtics and one guy who produced Tango and Cash. The only way the offseason could have been better was if SHA member in good standing Red didn’t renege on his promise to host a champagne party if Cohan ever sold.
The team also made some fairly substantial moves on the court, starting with trading for David Lee, fresh off an allstar season with the Knicks. The price was reasonably high, both in dollars, as they had to sign him to an $80 million contract, and in talent, as they had to include everybody’s favorite prospect, Anthony Randolph in the deal. That said, Lee should be a good fit. He‘s a good character guy, he’s an efficient scorer, he rebounds and he and franchise player Steph Curry should play well off each other. Next they essentially traded Anthony Morrow for Dorell Wight, trying to get a more well rounded player on the wing. They signed Louis Amundson to be a backup big. They signed Rodney Carney to give them some depth on the wing. Reggie Williams should give them one of the better scoring 6th men in the association. Brandan Wight theoretically still has some potential. The hope is that these players combined with a bounceback season from Andris Biedrins, a more consistent season from Monta Ellis and continued development from Curry will get them back on the road to respectability. At the very least, they are starting a legitimate NBA player at every position on the floor and they are going to have some legitimate NBA size in the frontcourt for the first time in a while.
Championship parades through the beautiful streets of Oakland shouldn’t be planned just yet, but things are definitely looking up. With Cohan finally out, with a fairly decent young core on the roster and with about $15 million in expiring contracts the Warriors are in a place where a competent organization could make something happen. Your move, Lacob.
