During the three weeks of bigger picture conversation that ultimately led Steve Kerr to return as coach of the Golden State Warriors, sources in the front office expressed slight surprise about Kerr's steadfast agreement that long-term organizational prudence is needed despite what sets up as an urgent final chapter.
Don't mortgage the future for the present. Don't throw around first-round picks for marginal upgrades.
"It's what should've been done four years ago," one high-ranking team source said. "But not now."
The Giannis Antetokounmpo conversation is a barometer. As recently as February's trade deadline, the Warriors had aggressive discussions with the Milwaukee Bucks and expressed a willingness to unload their draft pick cupboard. But during offseason trade conversations with the Bucks, they've remained on the sideline, a signal of a quietly shifting approach.
"We had to come to a much more reality-based shared vision on what success looks like for us," Kerr said at his return news conference. "What are we trying to accomplish? Because for the first time since our injury-plagued year [in 2019-20], we aren't sitting here saying, 'Hey, we can win a championship.'"
Here's what I'm hearing about the Warriors as transaction season in the NBA arrives.
The LeBron James option
If negotiations between James and the Los Angeles Lakers break down -- and if James goes searching for a new home for his 24th NBA season -- the Warriors are a willing suitor, team sources said.
But openness does not equal anticipation. All the intel that Warriors decision-makers have gathered continues to point toward James' return to the Lakers, team sources said, and they are currently plotting their summer under that premise.