When basketball historians look at the rise and fall of the Golden State Warriors dynasty, the failure of the “two timelines” approach is going to be part of the narrative. Former general manager Bob Myers tried to justify that strategy in an interview last year, but didn’t do a great job of it.
The “two timelines” strategy was basically Golden State’s plan to have two halves of their roster -- one that had their star veterans like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson who would eventually get replaced by the other half of the roster comprised of guys like Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and Moses Moody.
Warriors blew it with the 'two timelines' failure
Myers appeared on Tom Tolbert’s podcast in October of last year and stated, "there was a contingent of fans and media and maybe even people in the organization that felt like, ‘Let’s get somebody more ready to play.’ But when you draft high…it’s a chance to take a swing.”
Myers invoked Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant and said that the Warriors wanted to go after guys who they thought had a high ceiling but may have been a bit more risky. He ultimately said he wouldn’t have done anything differently if he knew how the team’s picks would pan out.
It’s clear to everyone that the Warriors really whiffed on their lottery draft picks towards the end of Myers’ tenure with the team. Wiseman completely flamed out, Kuminga never fit into what the Warriors were trying to do, and Moody has been a decent role player but certainly not an All-Star.
No team is going to hit on every draft pick but that strategy of drafting high-upside players was just ill-conceived. Instead of drafting high-floor players who could come right in and immediately support Curry and the style of basketball the Warriors played, they took guys who weren't a perfect fit which obviously put head coach Steve Kerr in a tough position as evidenced by his fraught relationship with Kuminga.
It seems the Warriors have finally learned from their mistake by drafting Yaxel Lendeborg. He'll be 24-years-old by the start of next season and has a lot of college experience under his belt, meaning he’s almost the opposite of a guy like Kuminga because he can be plugged right in and should be able to help right away while fitting in seamlessly with what the Warriors like to do.
It’s likely to be too late though because now the Warriors are too old to be true contenders. If they had taken that high-floor approach years ago, or even traded those picks to get established players to support the core of the roster, who knows how many rings the Dubs would have.
Myers deserves credit for helping to assemble the team’s championship teams, but his justification for the “two timelines” approach is not going to convince any fans it was the right move.
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