Empire’s New Reign, How Much Longer can the Warriors Stay at the Top

The Golden State Warriors just finished the 2016–17 season as champions with a historic 16–1 playoff record, and for the second year in a row, they may have won the off-season as well. Yes, I know that the Houston Rockets acquired Chris Paul and are in the workings for a deal to get Carmelo Anthony and that the Minnesota Timberwolves have added Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford. Even with all that considered, who is everyone expecting to hold the trophy next summer? A good answer to that question would be the team that just had their best player give up almost $10 million to keep the team that wreaked havoc on the league last year together. If Klay Thompson and Draymond Green follow Kevin Durant’s example, then the NBA is going to see the Warriors dominate the league for the next 3–5 years. The question now becomes what can other teams do to try and stop them.
The Path to Dominance
Even after-the-fact, people are wondering how a team like this ever came or was even allowed to come to be, and like all success stories it comes down to two things, a little bit of skill and a lot of luck. Signing Kevin Durant as a free agent last year overshadowed the fact, that the 73 win team from two years ago was the product of great draft picks. Stephen Curry (7th in 2009), Klay Thompson (11th in 2011) and Draymond Green (35th in 2012) were all players drafted by the Warriors and developed into the stars that they are today. Do you think the Warriors knew that Curry would come back from a serious ankle injury and become a 2-time MVP, one of them unanimous, that Thompson would break the NBA record for points in a quarter and score 60 points in 29 minutes as a third option or that their second round pick in Green would become a team leader, a Defensive Player of the Year and a tremendous passer? As much as the fans in the Bay Area want to believe that they did, the truth of the matter is that these players just happened to be as incredible as they are. I am not trying to downplay the huge contribution of the Warriors organization to the development their players. After all, everyone who comes and plays for the Warriors seems to have their best season with them. Even Kevin Durant, who was already perceived to be at least a top 3 if not top 2 player in the league before he joined the Warriors, looked more efficient and played better defense than we had ever seen from him. I am just merely pointing out that fortune played a role in the formation of this all-time great team.
Another luck of the draw and largely underrated contribution to the success of the Warriors is head coach Steve Kerr, who the Warriors happened to hire as a first-time coach. We have the seen the Warriors start the regular season 24–0 and get to the Western Conference Finals without Kerr, but the fast-paced, high ball movement system that the Warriors play was instilled by coach Kerr. He is also the one who really let Steph be Steph; no player before Curry’s MVP season would ever be allowed to pull up from 30 feet with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. Now, no matter where and how he shoots it, everyone watching expects it to go in, and that is in large part due to Kerr giving Curry the freedom to do whatever he likes on the court.
The final piece to the Warriors success is precisely what I just mentioned, the 3-point shot. Curry and Thompson are the greatest 3-point shooting back court that we have ever seen by a huge margin, and when Golden State introduced their death lineup 3 years ago, they started a revolution. Teams around the league saw how deadly the Warriors style of play could be when they won the championship in 2015 and even more so during their 73 win season. Shortly after, teams like the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers incorporated the three a lot more to their plays. Simply shooting more threes, unfortunately for the Rockets and the Cavaliers, is not enough to beat the Warriors. The reason why the Warriors are so dominant is not because they make more three-pointers than everybody else. Rather, it is those periods that usually come in the 1st or 3rd quarter where no matter what the opposing team’s defense does, the Warriors rain threes and make a huge run. That is exactly why so many of their games end in blowouts and also why even a 25-point lead is not a large enough cushion to be safe from the Warriors offensive onslaught.
The glue that really allows the Warriors to run this style of play is Draymond Green. No one in the Warriors small ball lineup before last season was taller than 6'7", and an easy way to exploit that would be to send bigger guys in the paint. However, when your 6'7" power forward has the defensive capability to guard the opposing teams center, it makes it a whole lot easier to run this system without getting bullied inside. Not to mention that Draymond Green also has the court vision and the range to still be a threat on the offensive end while vocally acting as the leader of the team. The addition of Kevin Durant was just an upgrade to a machine that already functioned perfectly. As a 7-foot sniper who can handle the ball and guard taller players with his length, the Warriors were able to stay as one of the best defensive teams after losing a rim protector in Andrew Bogut and a solid defender in Harrison Barnes. Long story short, the Warriors have created the perfect formula for success with their play-style.
Hoard or Dissemble: What Other Teams Have to Resort To

The Warriors have left the other top teams in the league with one option, gathering as many star caliber players as they can. At least one good thing that came about for other teams after Kevin Durant’s decision last year, is that top free agents are no longer afraid to go to other teams in pursuit of championships, like we have already seen from Chris Paul and Gordon Hayward. No matter how many stars teams can gather however, it is still a near impossible task to assemble a team that would beat the Warriors in a playoff series. Carmelo Anthony getting traded to the Rockets or the Cavaliers seems like the closest any team is going to get for now, but only time will tell, if any team can pose a legitimate threat to the Warriors chances of going back-to-back.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are teams who lost any serious chance at contending for a title simply because the Warriors and the Cavaliers are too dominant. That means, except for teams who are in small markets that would end up tanking themselves out of existence, middle to bottom of the pack teams’ best option right now is to start rebuilding. Trying to acquire star talent is an expensive task, and tearing everything down in hopes of being able to contend in the future is going to the preferred method for a lot of organizations.
The one thing that every team will be hoping for is the same thing that got the Warriors to the position that they are in, luck. Unexpected events will always happen, and it has happened to even the best of teams. It can come in the form of miracles, where against all odds a team comes out on top (like we saw in the 2016 finals), or god forbid it can come it the form of injury and tragedy. Whatever is the case, no team can ever be completely ruled out, and what fans and teams will be doing now, is living under the dynasty that is the Golden State Warriors until one day, inevitably, it falls.
Share your thoughts ↓↓↓