The outlook was looking positive for the Golden State Warriors when they signed three valuable role players at the start of free agency, with optimism that the additions of De'Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield would just be the precursor to something bigger on the horizon.
But that optimism has seemingly fallen in a heap after Lauri Markkanen's renegotiation and extension with the Utah Jazz, leaving the Warriors floundering as a team with too much depth and not enough top end firepower to support Stephen Curry.
Any significant move for the Golden State Warriors may have to wait until next offseason when Stephen Curry is 37-years-old
The one beacon of hope is that Golden State still have their young talent and future draft assets largely in tact, providing them the opportunity to be players in the market whenever the next star may become available.
That's little consolation to many after missing on Markkanen and previously 9x All-Star Paul George prior to free agency, with NBA writer and analyst David Dennis Jr. labelling the Warriors offseason a "disaster" during Wednesday's episode of NBA Today.
"The Warriors should get on their knees and thank everybody that Steph Curry had that Game 4 against the Boston Celtics, because that has saved these last few years from being a totally different narrative." 👀 @DavidDTSS says the Warriors' offseason was a disaster 😳 pic.twitter.com/DBs9nAQXnu
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 7, 2024
Even for those that do hold hope of Golden State finally landing an All-Star level player, The Athletic's Tim Kawakami has provided a further pessimistic outlook in suggesting it may take a long time for that to eventuate.
“I don't know what's out there, even in February. This might be a reset till (next) July when there are other players that will become available, including potentially Lauri Markkanen", Kawakami stated on the latest episode of the Warriors Plus Minus podcast.
If the Warriors have to wait until next offseason for something major to materialize, that essentially means they're wasting another year where their greatest ever player may be battling just to make the Play-In Tournament. Not only are you forfeiting the remainder of whatever prime Curry has left, but you're risking a situation where the 2x MVP becomes incredibly frustrated at the position he finds himself.
Even if Golden State can land a star-level player next July, Curry will be 37 and preparing for his 16th NBA season. In the meantime the franchise will be relying on even bigger leaps than expected from Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, while a return of 2022 playoffs Andrew Wiggins would be considered by many as miraculous at this point.
To finish on a slightly more positive note -- the NBA landscape can change quickly. Just because there doesn't appear to be another star level player available right now, doesn't mean that won't change in the next six months, particularly once the season actually gets underway.