The NBA trade deadline came and went for the Golden State Warriors, their team ultimately unchanged with just the upcoming buy-out market as the remaining path for upgrades.
While the Warriors stood pat, several competitors loaded up, including the league-leading Phoenix Suns, which leaves questions to where the Warriors' position currently is.
Confidence, arrogance or luxury tax issues
Golden State being inactive at the deadline was mostly expected. Rumors hadn't swirled about any dealings, and the organization seemed fine moving forward with the roster they had.
That approach would have been fine, had they been head-and-shoulders above the field, but that's not currently the case. The aforementioned Suns have taken the league by storm this season, and acquired defensive ace Torrey Craig during the deadline, further strengthening the quality of their roster.
Craig even played for the team last year, so his familiarity with the cast of players is already well-established, meaning there's no need to spend time getting acclimated.
The Warriors have been a confident bunch dating back to their first championship in 2015, and it seems their own satisfaction in their roster is a continuation of that mentality.
Having confidence is fine, but there's a minor level of arrogance associated with their inaction in tinkering with the roster.
Second-year player James Wiseman still has yet to play a single minute this season, while he occupies over $9.1 million in salary. Even if he should return this season - which seems to be the expectation - he will need time to get back into on-court rhythm, and he'll need development minutes. His rookie season left a lot to be desired, to the point where it's fair to question if he can even help the Warriors bring a championship home this season.
Of course, the decision to hang onto Wiseman could be neither confidence or arrogance, and instead be a matter of luxury tax concerns.
The Warriors are currently expected to finish the year with a luxury tax bill of over $170 million, meaning that would only increase further by acquiring talent more expensive than Wiseman's salary, which is a legitimate financial concern.
That said, you have to wonder if the San Antonio Spurs would have been willing to part with center Jakob Pöltl, who was heavily featured in trade rumors over the past three weeks. Pöltl is 26, has dramatically improved in recent years and even checks in with a smaller price tag than Wiseman, at just over $8.7 million.
The center is averaging 13.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 blocks in just 28.8 minutes on the season, hitting on over 61% of his shots, and has turned himself into a high quality defender and offensive producer.
Given that the Spurs tore a significant part of their roster to pieces during the deadline, signaling a coming rebuild, surely Wiseman would have represented an intriguing long-term building block.
Shipping the 20-year-old center out for Pöltl might seem uninspiring due to Wiseman's draft slot (2nd overall in 2020), but make no mistake: The Warriors would be a lot better with Pöltl this year.
Not only that, but they'd even lessen their luxury tax bill due to Pöltl's smaller contract.
Besides, with Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Jordan Poole on the roster, the Warriors aren't exactly lacking in long-term options. Losing Wiseman wouldn't have meant an end to the youth movement they're hoping to bridge eras with, and you could easily have made the argument that Pöltl himself would have been a tremendous piece to the puzzle in coming years. At 26, he's got a lot of basketball left to play.
This, of course, is all moot now, but it shows the lack of creativity from the side of Golden State, in a year where most of their competitors had plenty of it.
Trusting the roster
Going into the playoffs with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Poole is not a bad bet, mind you.
The Warriors does have significant upside, and aren't down for the count even if teams around them got better. They're still projected as the team to come out of the west, and their volume shooting has proven to be swing series in their favor, which remains a possibility.
Even Kuminga, who improves at a tremendous rate, should be able to feature in the playoffs where his length, athleticism and uncanny ability to get to the rim should serve the Warriors well.
When going up against Phoenix however, by far the biggest challenger to the title, Golden State will need everyone to perform.
Show one weak area, and the Suns will pounce. There isn't a team, league-wide, that plays more like a well-oiled machine. They have two-way production at every position, they're long, athletic, and come in with a chip on their shoulder after losing the Finals last year to the Milwaukee Bucks.
This could be the toughest challenge the Warriors have ever faced, within their own conference, in their championship era.
For Steve Kerr, his un-upgraded troops will now have to be ready to go to war as-is.
Maybe that's enough. Or maybe, the Warriors will prove to have been one trade short. Time will tell how their story of 2022 will be written.
