David Robinson says Warriors' window is short
Can Golden State keep the super-team together long-term?
By
Matt Moore
•
2 min read
Are you ready for old-time NBA players to weigh in on this year's Warriors? It's like the sequel you never wanted.
After last year's cavalcade of stars comparing the eventual-73-win Warriors to their respective great teams from the days of yesteryear, you can expect the same kind of pronouncements this year after Kevin Durant joins the Warriors. You should largely ignore all of these because A. What great competitor is going to admit that a newfangled group of youngsters that lost after leading 3-1 in the Finals was superior to their squad? And B. This story is more played out than the Ryan Lochte debacle. But this one is kind of interesting.
David Robinson rarely speaks on these matters, as the former Spurs center and MVP Hall of Famer doesn't talk a lot of trash, or in the media much at all. But Complex talked to the Admiral, and he says that the Warriors could have a shorter window than most people believe.
"It takes time, you look at what happened with LeBron, Wade and Bosh. It took them a year or two to get their legs underneath them and figure things out and even then that run was relatively short," he mentioned. "So if you're able to put together a team like this, you're generally going to have a short window because you can't pay all those guys to keep them together. There's the short window that's going to end relatively quickly and it's not as easy as going out to play."
Source: David Robinson: Golden State Warriors Have a "Short Window" | Complex.
This is a reasonable approach nine times out of 10. Except with the Warriors, as with most things over the past two years, they are the exception to nearly every rule. They already have Klay Thompson and Draymond Green on long-term deals. They will re-sign Kevin Durant next summer, and they can go over the cap to re-sign Stephen Curry. Typically the only way this gets limited is by ownership not being willing to pay exorbitant luxury taxes. Except the Warriors are a cash cow. They operate in the Bay Area with the most marketable star in the league, Stephen Curry and the new TV money only swells their wallets. They can afford to burn off the tax because they have four All-Stars, in their prime, on long-term deals next summer.
The Heat had guys approaching 30 rapidly under a much lower cap. Green and Thompson signed before the cap explosion, so their deals are cost limited to a degree. Will the Warriors be able to put together a phenomenal bench? No. They also won't need to, because they'll have Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
Robinson is trying to provide perspective, but the God's honest truth is that unless the Warriors tear apart on their own due to chemistry issues, there's no reason to think this won't work.
