The “Golden” State of the Western Conference

Kevin Durant’s sudden, but not shocking decision to bolt for Golden State left a ubiquitous feeling amongst the rest of the league — the Warriors are going to win the NBA Finals.

They have arguably four of the 12 best players in the league on their roster, including the two reigning MVPs. Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all just entering their prime and appear destined to represent the Western Conference in the Finals for years to come, unless the Spurs can lure another star via free agency next season.

James Harden and Jae Crowder are just a few of the many players that have called out Durant for joining the Warriors, voicing their frustration over the reality of a “super team” forming in the Bay Area. But it is the players who are at fault because the new CBA they agreed to allows stars to join forces since teams now have enough money to accommodate their alliances with the new national TV deal in place. Hence, the reason average players are making way more than their worth since there is just a handful of elite players with teams having too much money to spend.

So where does the rest of the Western Conference stand?

The Clippers are currently the third best team in the West, but their core has yet to provide any reason for optimism to make it past the second round, a place the franchise has never reached before. The inevitable departures of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul loom upon them, as they are both unrestricted free agents next summer. In fact, the Clippers offered Griffin to Denver after he broke his hand punching a staff member, but the Nuggets declined.

Doc Rivers, the President of Basketball Operations for the Clippers should trade Griffin and Paul instead of risking their departures for no return next summer. Doc Rivers the coach, will not trade them because he doesn’t want to coach a team competing for nothing since he did that for so many years with the Celtics before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived.

For the rest of the Western Conference, if a team doesn’t have a star or a potential star to build around, they should be thinking about four to five years from now. Loading up on draft picks for the next couple of seasons and developing prospects would be wise since the Warriors are about to be what the Cavs are to the East — unbeatable.

For the most part, this is directed towards the Grizzlies.

What the hell is their plan?

Making Mike Conley the highest paid player in NBA history and giving Chandler Parsons a max contact is foolish and irresponsible for the future of their organization. Yes, Conley is one of the more underrated players in the league and Parsons is above average when healthy, but $247 million dollars between the two is dumbfounded. Conley will be 34 by the end of his contract and Parsons is assured to miss a quarter of each season to injury.

​The Grizzlies are a good team when healthy, but they are nowhere near contention and their four best players are all coming off an injury-plagued season.

Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol are up there in age, 34 and 31 respectively, with both of their production declining. The core of Conley, Randolph, and Gasol simply isn’t a trio that is good enough to win an NBA title, and the last team to do so without a star was the 2004 Detroit Pistons.

Trading Gasol before the signings of Conley and Parsons would have been the quickest way to a rebuild with his value currently as high as it ever will be. Now, it’s too late for that because they already committed to being the seven-seed in the West once again.

Of course, a recent Conference Finals appearance could do that to you — just ask Gar Foreman and John Paxson.

The worst place to be in basketball is the middle and holding on to a core even for just a year too long could do that. The middle means you have the privilege to lose in the first round while getting a pick in the 15–20 range. And when you think of the middle in the NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies might as well be scripted as the definition.