Insider: Warriors may be forced to make ‘hard decisions’ soon

December 14, 2023

It’s safe to say the Golden State Warriors’ early season isn’t going as planned.

Draymond Green has been suspended — again. This time indefinitely. Klay Thompson looks like a shell of himself. And what’s become of Andrew Wiggins, who seems to fade with each passing season?

Add it all up and you have a losing record at the quarter-pole of the season (10-13 entering Thursday’s game vs. the Los Angeles Clippers). Is there any hope?

Well, you’d have to say yes, given that these are the Warriors, especially since Stephen Curry is still on the team.

But that’s just a prediction. All we can go on is the here and now, and for once-mighty Golden State, that doesn’t appear to be very promising.

Green just signed a four-year deal worth $100 million. So moving him, if the Warriors were to even consider it, wouldn’t be easy. Thompson’s contract expires at the end of the year, with no extension in sight. Coach Steve Kerr‘s contract is up at the end of the season, too.

Is this the final run for these Warriors? Maybe not. But maybe, too.

The idea that the Warriors may not wait until the end of the season to revamp the roster has been mentioned repeatedly over the last several weeks, especially since the Green suspension on Wednesday. We’ve broached the topic both here and here. And so has Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“It’s tough to keep trudging forward when the coals beneath your feet are this hot,” Amick wrote, suggesting that the Warriors may be forced to “make hard decisions sooner than they might have hoped.”

Amick added: “You could see that dynamic play out in real time in the game in Sacramento, where it was so clear there was no one on this team — including Steph — who could persuade Green to shift his energy in a more positive direction for the sake of the greater good.”

Is it time for the Warriors to break it up? Only they know the answer, and that answer likely won’t come until closer to the Feb. 8 trade deadline. But for the first time in forever, breaking it up may be crossing their minds. If not now, then soon.