Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the NBA
For whatever reason, star players rarely make star GMs.
Isiah Thomas was infamously terrible at running the Knicks. Joe Dumars was even worse, no matter how many phones he used. Kevin McHale traded prime Kevin Garnett for Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and the picks that became Wayne Ellington and Jonny Flynn (sheesh). Larry Bird had some moments as an executive, but the most consequential move he made was trading Kawhi Leonard to the Spurs for George Hill.
Is the last Hall of Fame player to become a great GM…Jerry West?
Which brings us to the topic de jour: active greats with GM-like input. LeBron James is the biggest example on one end of the spectrum.
Early in his career, his annual insistence to go all-in mostly backfired as the wrong players (Shaquille O’Neal, Antawn Jamison) arrived at the wrong times in their careers.
James maneuvering his way to Miami to create the Heatles was a stroke of genius that ushered in the player empowerment era. But as shadow GM, his track record is murkier.
James forced Miami to draft Shabazz Napier (oof). Then he influenced Cleveland’s decision to trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love (masterstroke!). He has constantly put pressure on his front offices by signing short-term deals and influencing personnel decisions with cryptic tweets or public messages. He has gotten coaches fired and he —and his agency — helped draw Anthony Davis to Los Angeles. But he also led the charge for trading for Russell Westbrook, which took years to undo.
If James is the most influential active player on personnel, his foil would be someone who’s completely hands-off and has complete trust in their front office.
Steph Curry is somewhere in the middle.
It’s not his day job, but Curry is involved in conversations about the big-picture direction of the team. He knows far more about who may or may not be available, and which players the Warriors would be willing to move, than the public. He doesn’t pound his fists or nudge the front office to sign his buddies, but he makes his voice heard behind closed doors.
Curry’s approach is generally more preferable than that of James. It’s better to be a partner in the decision-making process than to hijack it.
But what if Curry channeled James’ style at this point in his career? James constantly pushed his teams to trade future draft picks to improve in the short-term, while Curry — the most unselfish superstar of this generation — is intent on caretaking the organization even after he’s gone.
“Nobody wants to be stale or be in a situation where you’re passing up opportunities,” Curry said this week. “But it doesn’t mean that you’re desperate, just flinging assets all around the place.”
If Curry pulled a LeBron, he almost certainly wouldn’t have signed his contract extension this past summer. If Curry exerted more power, maybe Pascal Siakam is a Warrior. Or Zach LaVine. Or Myles Turner, Lauri Markkanen or Brandon Ingram.
In any of those hypotheticals, Golden State wouldn’t own all their future first-round picks like they currently do, and they might not have Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski. They might be worse than they currently are, or they might be better.
They’d certainly be different. They’d have shaken up the status quo of what’s headed for a third straight mediocre season in the play-in range.
Curry’s comments cautioning against a “desperate” trade are logical right now. There’s probably no magical move to catapult the Warriors into championship contenders this year. But there have been opportunities over the past few years to go all-in, and at least part of their inaction is with Curry’s permission.
Roster Optionality has had a tough stretch here in Golden State.
Even if there’s no grand-slam trade to make this season, there’s at least possibility in the unknown. What’s certain is the current group can’t get it done — they’re not in the same stratosphere of the Cavaliers, Celtics or Thunder. What’s certain is that no team can trade first-rounders every year (they’re only allowed to send out alternating firsts) and the Warriors will need a hard reset whenever Curry retires, anyway.
What’s certain is Curry is still a championship-caliber superstar.
Curry doesn’t owe the Warriors anything. He turned the team from a laughingstock to the gold standard. The franchise has increased from $300 million to almost $9 billion. Joe Lacob paid for the cash-cow Chase Center, but Curry built it.
So if Curry is fine with riding out the end of his career on .500 teams (or worse) like Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant is, that’s alright. It’s a very human emotion to want the people you’ve worked with for 16 years to do well even after you’re done.
But that doesn’t sound like Curry, who insisted this week that anyone who thinks he’s cool with playing on average teams is “insane.” He wants to win, always has. He’s a legendary competitor who cares about his legacy and would love to match Bryant with a fifth championship.
It’s just possible his incredible unselfishness has gotten in the way of that.
How the best 20 players of this century ended their careers
LeBron James – won four titles, became all-time leading scorer, played with son, teams sunk to the middle, rest TBDSteph Curry – won fourth title in 2022, only one team (for now), rest TBDTim Duncan – played for only one franchise, helped usher in next wave, retired as contributor to perennial playoff teamKobe Bryant – memorable farewell tour on forgettable teamsShaquille O’Neal – played out the string on four different teams in last four seasonsKevin Durant – lost-soul searching for basketball happiness post Warriors titles; TBDNikola Jokic – TBD; has only been on one teamGiannis Antetokounmpo – TBD; has only been on one teamKevin Garnett – returned to Minnesota to mentor young WolvesDirk Nowitzki – played for only one franchise; finished on three straight lottery teamsDwyane Wade – returned to Miami after brief, unsuccessful Bulls/Cavs stintsSteve Nash – battled debilitating injuries on infamous Lakers “Big 3”Chris Paul – playing with Wemby in San Antonio; still productive at 39Allen Iverson – bounced around and refused to accept bench role, played on minimum salary at age 34 in return to Philadelphia in swan songJason Kidd – won title with Dallas and helped Knicks in playoff run his last seasonKawhi Leonard – broken down by injuries but TBDJames Harden – quit on Houston, forced his way out of Brooklyn, publicly feuded with Daryl Morey over contract in Philadelphia and now enjoying running the show in his hometownRussell Westbrook – bouncing around, Nuggets chapter TBDJayson Tatum – TBDPaul Pierce – bounced around on borderline playoff teams in his extended post-prime