SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s impossible mission, which he has already accepted, truly begins now, only a year after he took over the Golden State Warriors’ front office and a few days before some of the biggest decisions in recent franchise history are due.
And how is the Warriors’ general manager facing the weight of Klay Thompson’s future, Chris Paul’s future, maybe Paul George’s future and, oh yes, the quest to fulfill the final years of Stephen Curry’s premium era with at least one more championship? By looking pretty relaxed, sounding very confident and actually making a relatively convincing case that all these challenges put the Warriors in position to do some creative and positive things.
They have choices, in other words. The Warriors could stay mostly the same and let their young players bloom, if that’s what Dunleavy, Joe Lacob and the rest of the Warriors’ decision-makers want to do. They could make some middling tweaks and wait a year before the big changes occur. They could just let Klay and CP3 go over the next few days, which would immediately take the Warriors all the way from the punitive second apron to out of the luxury tax entirely, at least for a year.
Or, Dunleavy does not deny, the Warriors could have the wherewithal to do something major, major, major, major by next week. My words, not his: They are already quite clearly checking out the market for a Paul George trade, and if George decides he wants to come to the Warriors and nowhere else, the Warriors would be the favorites to land him. None of that has happened yet, publicly at least; I still think it’s a hard trade for the Warriors and L.A. Clippers to pull off given their twin massive payroll situations and similar inclination to avoid helping the other.
But it’s possible. Something immense is possible. And Dunleavy, speaking on my podcast this week (recorded Thursday afternoon after the second round of the draft), is absolutely, clearly, definitively noting that a big move — or the big move — is not out of the Warriors’ reach this offseason.
“I think it’s possible because we have the assets to do so,” Dunleavy said. “When you look at our roster, you look at our picks, you look at all the things we have, we certainly have an attractive organization with a competitive ownership group, great coach, desirable players to play with.
“All those things that we have lends itself to believing that we’re capable of a big move if that’s on the table or available. The hardest part of that is not that many guys that are available you feel are worthy of giving up all that. We’ll see. This stuff evolves, it changes so quickly. But the one thing I know is we’re in position to do it.”
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Warriors’ Mike Dunleavy Jr. is ready for the big move, if it’s available (and it might be)