If you squint and look at just the right angle, you can see a Warriors team that improved this offseason. Sure, Klay Thompson — amid a surprising amount of one-sided acrimony — walked out the door, and yes, the Warriors did not turn Chris Paul’s expiring contract into, well, anything. But with both of those players off the team’s books, the Warriors were able to sign De’Antony Melton — a premier perimeter defender — to a full mid-level exception contract ($12.
82 million), and sign-and-trade for Kyle “Slo-Mo” Anderson. And perhaps Buddy Hield will use up the rest of that roughly $16 million trade exception the Warriors received from the Mavericks for Thompson. In crude, but simple terms, the Warriors traded Thompson and Paul for Melton, Anderson, and Hield (pending the Warriors and Sixers finalizing a sign-and-trade first reported by Shams Charania Tuesday night).
Is that a win? Sure. You can easily say the Warriors are now better on defense and just about equivalent on offense. Let’s just call it a wash.
The Warriors squandered the Paul exit and lost one of their great all-time players (that matters, too) in unceremonious fashion, but ultimately scrapped, clawed, and fought to pull it back to something close to even. Credit to general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. for that.
But pulling back to even isn’t good enough for the Warriors because, as you might recall, the team stunk last year. I know it’s fashionable to say the Golden State was not, actually, fa.
