The Golden State Warriors have tried to do the impossible, flying as close as possible to the sun to accomplish what every great team would love to do but can't: maintain a dynasty year after year after year.
Making five consecutive NBA Finals and winning three championships, then coming back two years later to win a fourth is the pinnacle of success, especially in the modern NBA. Yet the difficulty of maintaining a team at the top of the league presents an insurmountable challenge, one that has felled every dynasty in the modern NBA. The San Antonio Spurs won five titles in the Tim Duncan era, but never won in consecutive years. No other team came close to sniffing that level of sustained dominance.
The Warriors could have turned premium draft picks into a co-star for Stephen Curry, but instead, they used those picks nearly every time to add young talent. James Wiseman was a bust with the No. 2 pick, but Jonathan Kuminga looks like a budding star, Brandin Podziemski was a starter as a rookie and Moses Moody still boasts a lot of upside.
The Warriors could push in their chips for a win-now trade
None of those players will sniff the level of Stephen Curry, however, and the greatest player in franchise history is in the last couple of years of his prime. Do the Warriors continue to try and develop their young players and win "enough" with Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr, or do they finally push in their chips to make a win-now trade and add another star alongside Curry to pursue one last title?
It's at least possible that the Warriors consider such a deal, and plenty of possibilities have been bandied about the rumor mill in recent weeks. Let's look at one proposal suggested by another prominent website and discuss whether it's the right move to give up on the future and go all-in for the present.