Warriors face challenges with aging roster against younger West powers

San Francisco Chronicle​

16 hours ago

The NBA must have a secret burial ground for hints. They come in waves this time of year, all about shortening the season, relaxing the postseason scheduling and prioritizing the players' health. It all sounds so smart and overdue, only to learn that every suggestion gets buried under the same pile of greed.
Consequence for the Golden State Warriors: Good luck holding out hope for an NBA title next season. Nothing's going to change as the majority of owners hoard every last penny and the buttoned-up players' union balks at a widespread salary reduction.
Consider how much relief it would bring to Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green if there were no more back-to-backs, a schedule trimmed to 58 games (home-and-home against every team), and at least two off-days for playoff travel. (It was just a single day for the weary and banged-up Warriors for Games 5 and 7 of the first round in Houston, and again before they were eliminated in Game 5 at Minnesota.)
Nothing says those decorated stars can't last a full regular season, then find a second gear for the playoffs. But would you bet on that, when you examine what oppressive fatigue has done to the NBA elite? Butler and Curry were forced to miss playoff time when it mattered most, and two of the past four seasons found Green playing just 46 and 55 games.
Here's your starting five for the ruptured Achilles, among the worst of all injuries: Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard (all three lost for the coming season), Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Right behind them: Kyrie Irving, out indefinitely in the wake of knee surgery, and Joel Embiid, whose knees always turn to sawdust around playoff time. The list may yet include Luka Doncic, who has a long history of calf injuries, and those can be a prelude to Achilles disaster.
Two certainties emerge from the swirl of opinions in the medical community: The Achilles tendon is under constant tension, rendering it vulnerable from overuse, and proper rest is essential to recovery from all lower-body ailments. Armed with that knowledge, the NBA talks a good game but does nothing — so let's move on. In the wake of the draft, and developments through Friday evening, these are the scariest Western Conference teams from the Warriors' standpoint:
Oklahoma City: By all measures, from the eye test to the analytics, the Thunder should repeat. They won the conference by 16 games, they're the youngest team (averaging a bit over 24) to win a title since Bill Walton's Portland Trail Blazers in 1977, they have the MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), they play stifling defense without mercy, they have avoided all luxury-tax restrictions (thus free to keep the entire roster intact), they have four first-round draft picks over the next two years, and they are selfless to the core, invariably gathering as a fun-loving group when one of them gets interviewed on television.
This is a team that not only survived Chet Holmgren's fractured hip, losing the elite center for 50 games, but made a look-to-the-future selection in Thursday's first round: Georgetown's 6-foot-10 Thomas Sorber, a master of hand-eye coordination and highly capable as a lob-threat dunker, rebounder, passer and shot blocker. Add Isaiah Hartenstein, and this team has it covered around the paint.
Houston: It's easy to say 'same old vagabond' about Durant, about to join his fifth NBA team, but things could be very different with the Rockets. For the first time, he will unquestionably be the go-to scorer at all times. He has deep respect through a longtime relationship with coach Ime Udoka, and for heaven's sake, he's Kevin Durant — still one of the greatest shooters of all time.
As the Warriors learned in the playoffs, the Rockets were a bit too young and didn't have a clear option for that crucial shot. Now they add Durant to fast-rising rising center Alperen Sangun, rugged backup Steven Adams, heady guard Fred VanVleet, ever-improving forward Jabari Smith and Amen Thompson, said to have a future as the best two-way player in the league.
The Warriors most likely believe this Phoenix trade was a steal. Dillon Brooks brings a lot of confidence and energy, but as the playoffs conclude, he's just a guy who talks too much. Jalen Green should be among the league's best players, but he looked painfully young against Golden State (just 48 points total over the last five games) and stamped himself as a clown when he was asked about Draymond Green after Game 3. 'Just talking,' said Jalen. 'He can't really do much of anything else, so talking is his only way.'
San Antonio: On his path to taking over the league — that seems to be the consensus opinion — Victor Wembanyama faced a major setback in late February when a blood clot was diagnosed in his right shoulder, forcing him out for the season. As he grinds through the stages of recovery, all seems well — and whenever (if) he returns to full strength, the Spurs will be can't-miss theater. In the crowd of envious teams, the Warriors can only dream of a 7-foot-3 center destined to be a dominant force in every phase of the game.
Once painfully limited in the backcourt, San Antonio picked up Chris Paul last season, traded for clutch-time ace De'Aaron Fox and watched the electric Stephon Castle win Rookie of the Year. Now they've added No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper, who needs work only on his shot, and another first-round pick in 6-foot-7 wing Carter Bryant, who came off the bench at Arizona but showed huge potential with his defense and 3-point range. Scouts say both are high-character guys, and it all adds up to this: The Spurs are coming. In a hurry.
Dallas: If the Mavericks get the timing just right — Irving's midseason return to good health (he recently signed up for three more years) and Cooper Flagg instantly cashing in on his mind-blowing potential — they could be a force at playoff time with Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson and frontcourt mainstays Dereck Lively, P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.
One thing we know about Flagg: With his high-powered endurance, all-around brilliance and a competitive nature that frowns upon complainers, he's the anti-Doncic. We'll discover soon enough what that actually means.
Sleepers: The Lakers, if new owner Mark Walter spends as freely as he does with the Dodgers. (This proud franchise has been a bit too thrifty in recent off-seasons.) And Denver, if Nikola Jokic is fully invested in the franchise. He's expected to reject a three-year contract extension in the coming weeks, and he couldn't have been thrilled when Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke took the podium last week. Asked about avoiding the dreaded 'aprons' of the NBA's salary-cap restrictions, Kroenke said, 'The wrong person gets injured and very quickly you're into a scenario that I never want to have to contemplate — and that's trading No. 15 (Jokic). So we're very conscious of that.'
Whoa. Perhaps the Nuggets should let others do the talking.
Bruce Jenkins writes the 3-Dot Lounge for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [e-mail] Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1