As the Golden State Warriors have been held in a choke-hold this offseason by their lack of a resolution to Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency, they have been forced to watch the market pass them by.
Now, however, their biggest blow has come with veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon signing with the New York Knicks, and, through their inability to sign him, the organization has failed their superstar Stephen Curry yet again.
Brogdon, 32, would have been a major boon to the team's bench, taking some of the offensive burden and minutes load off of Curry's shoulders. Now, however, the team must pick through what limited options are still available on the market in order to give this team the depth it needs to compete.
Malcolm Brogdon would have made things a lot easier on Steph Curry
As the offseason has worn on, Golden State has consistently been tied to a large number of veteran guards, presumably with the intention of shoring up their backcourt depth behind the somewhat inconsistent Brandin Podziemski and Buddy Hield.
From among this group, which has included De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Seth Curry and even Ben Simmons at various points throughout the offseason, Brogdon presented the most suitable skill-set to become the team's floor general for their bench unit: an addition that would have taken a large burden off of the team's stars.
Although Brogdon has dealt with injuries the past two season, he won Sixth Man of the Year in his last full season with the Boston Celtics, averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 26 minutes per game.
Last season, Curry averaged 32.2 minutes per game: a fact that resulted in multiple minor injuries throughout the course of the regular season and ultimately ended the team's playoff run when Curry went down with a strained hamstring in the second round.
As Curry gets older, he cannot be expected to continue to take on such a heavy offensive burden, and the team acknowledged this fact in acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat at the last trade deadline.
Brogdon, if healthy, could have taken over a serious chunk of minutes off the bench, allowing the team to give Curry some rest without worrying about the game falling apart in his absence. While Melton or Payton will also provide a boon to the team's backcourt, neither of them can be trusted with the same type of ball-handling responsibilities that could have been handed over to Brogdon.
Therefore, as a result of their lingering Kuminga situation, the Warriors have failed yet again to provide Curry with the proper help.