The frustrating mediocrity of the Golden State Warriors

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 18: Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors reacts with Eric Paschall #7, Brad Wanamaker #10 and Andrew Wiggins #22 after his offensive foul during the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on January 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2021 NBAE (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Now what?

The return of the injured Klay Thompson will certainly help.

But the Warriors have been bad. Like, really bad. The reinstatement of an All-NBA defender and >40 percent three-point shooter is most certainly not going to be the panacea to their woes.

Something needs to change, which brings up another frustrating point: The Warriors have very limited options to improve.

The unfortunate truth of the situation is that the Warriors currently have three of the worst contracts in the NBA on their books.

Wiggins is getting paid the max to be a role player, Klay hasn’t produced anything for the last two years due to injury, and Draymond is teetering on this very fine line of displaying a uniquely valuable skillset and hurting the team with his incompetence at scoring a basketball.

With all this money tied up in three players who are producing way under the value of their contracts, the Warriors have their hands tied as far as realistic avenues that they can take to improve the roster.

They do have a couple of high-value assets in James Wiseman, this year’s second overall pick, and Minnesota’s 2021 lottery pick (if it falls outside the top 3). While maneuvering players may be tricky, we do have a few assets that other teams would want.

But as far as the deals that are actually on the table, who really knows?

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