Pierce thinks the Warriors need to trade in order to be competitive this year.
The Warriors are under.500 after 20 games of the 2023–24 NBA season, which is surprising given that Golden State was two wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals in May, despite their wealth of experience and Hall of Fame talent.
With concerns about the Warriors’ current standing, Hall of Famer Paul Pierce chimed in on Showtimes’ “KG Certified” with Kevin Garnett, describing what Golden State must do to save its window for contention this year.
“You got to make a trade,” Pierce told Garnett. “I still believe in Steph [Curry]. I believe in Draymond [Green], that you can still build around them if you get the right pieces, that they can win a championship. But you’ve got to make some moves. As currently constructed, [Golden State] is barely a playoff team.”
Pierce believes aging Warriors like Curry and Green can bring another NBA title to Chase Center, but the longtime Boston Celtics forward feels Golden State’s role players are not on the same level.
In particular, Pierce blames the Warriors’ recent struggles on past moves that he claims to have not worked out as intended.
“It’s on them, Golden State, but it’s also on the players they added.” Like, consider this. What if James Wiseman had become what they required him to become? Jordan Poole? Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga? Their role was to maintain the dynasty. However, things didn’t work out the way [the Warriors] anticipated. What Klay [Thompson] is giving you now is supposed to be provided by Wiggins.
READMORE:
Send Your Questions for Friday’s Trail Blazers vs. Mavericks Game!
The Portland Trail Blazers finally return home to face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Their recent extended road trip ended on a sour note when they couldn’t hold on against the Golden State Warriors. Now they’re back at the Moda Center, if only for a single game, for the Mavericks at 7:00 p.m. Pacific tomorrow. We are once again asking for your questions!
What questions do you have about either the Blazers or the Mavericks for this upcoming game?
Reminder: It can be about either team so long as it has something to do with the game.
Leave your questions in the comments and we’ll pick a few to add to our preview, with proper credit of course.
The approximate cutoff time for this game is 7 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. That way we can have the preview ready for publishing early on game day.
For an example of how the process turns out, take a look at the preview for Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
Thank you all in advance!