Golden State Warriors Mailbag

The first Warriors Mailbag is finally here! Today we will be answering 5 of my followers questions about the Warriors! If you would like to have your questioned answered in the next mailbag, make sure to follow my Instagram (gswdiscussion) and stay tuned for the next mailbag!

Does Damion Lee stay with the Warriors after this season? -daviid.goodman

Damion Lee’s contract was recently fully guaranteed. This does mean that he will be an unrestricted free agent next season. The Warriors do have bird rights on Damion Lee meaning they would be allowed to offer him a deal anywhere from 1-5 years up to the maximum salary with up to 8% raises. Now the question is, should they? Before I answer this question, I would like to make clear that in no way should this decision be made based off of Lee’s relationship with the Curry family. This decision will be made 100% based off of what Lee brings to the table as a Warrior and nothing else. Damion Lee is averaging 8.3 ppg, 3 rpg, and shooting 34% from three. These numbers don’t pop out as a must keep player. Personally, I really do like Damion Lee as one of those stay ready type of players. I don’t think he will have a huge role right now in the rotation but he can always be thrown in the game and have an impact even if it’s just being a primary ball handler. Free agency could of course see the Dubs going after someone else but I do believe he is a safe option for the Warriors.

How will Klay’s increase in minutes affect Jordan Poole’s usage? -aaradhya.khanal

This is a very interesting discussion because of the great season Poole has had. With Klay on his minutes restriction, Poole has played an average of 23 minutes. Now this is with Klay only playing 19 minutes per game. Over time, this number will significantly increase to a maximum of around 30-32 minutes. Jordan Poole will still be running the second unit. Coming off the bench, he is a great asset to the Warriors. Being young, Poole is still inconsistent shooting the ball. His minutes will depend heavily on performance. If he starts to thrive in the sixth man role, I can see him playing 23-25 minutes. If not, 23 may be the max he plays. I do like the fact that he will be coming off the bench because it will put less pressure on him to be a starting caliber shooting gaudy in only his third year. Jordan’s minutes should stay relatively consistent around the 20-25 minute mark.

Would the Warriors have won any of their 3 recent championships WITHOUT Draymond Green? -buckets_coverage

Over the Warriors dynasty, they have had some extremely talented players like Steph, Klay, and even Durant. Even though his stats aren’t as eye popping, Draymond’s impact on success is undeniable. Having KD and Steph on a court together is instant domination. What I would like to point out about the titles the Dubs have won, Draymond Green has been a legitimate scoring option. From 2014-2018, Draymond averaged double digits in scoring and shot the 3 ball over 30%. 30% isn’t the greatest but considering all else he does, it is pretty impressive. So to answer this question, I do think the Warriors would have at the very least won 1 ring with the trio of Steph, Klay, and Durant but without KD, I don’t think the Warriors would have stood a chance. Now of course this scenario has several ripple effects as KD may never have joined the Warriors if not for Draymond’s convincing.

Who is the most valuable asset the Warriors have right now? Ex. Wiseman, Moody, etc. -sae.roble

The Warriors have several young players with a good amount of trade value. A season ago, Andrew Wiggins may have been the most likely to get traded but this season he has shut down all the critiques and put himself in a position where his spot is pretty safe. James Wiseman would be the obvious choice here but has he played enough to show any future signs of becoming a star? There could be some team that is willing to try and polish him into that player. The two rookies, Kuminga and Moody, could potentially fit this as well. While Moody has been amazing in the Gleague, it hasn’t yet translated to the NBA and Kuminga has been very inconsistent. I do think that Wiseman is the still the Warriors most valuable asset as he was only drafted in 2020 with the second overall pick.

Why do NBA fans doubt the Warriors so much? -mjm_1706

There are many reasons why NBA fans doubt the Warriors. The simple answer, they believe that the Warriors reign is over. That because KD left and Klay got injured there is no chance even with Steph. What people fail to understand is that the Warriors front office knows what their doing at every step. Sure they had a bad season or two but in the process, you made a positive out of Klay’s injury by getting the #2 overall pick. And on top of that, you flipped KD into Wiggins and Kuminga who have both played well this season, especially Wiggins. Because the Warriors have declined a little bit though, fans immediately will take them out of contention. Whenever a good team goes on a losing stretch, that team will get hated on. The Lakers won a championship and are still being told that it doesn’t count?! It makes no sense! But that’s the NBA for ya.