The One Warriors Front Office Blunder That Has Cost Steph Chance at 5th Ring

The Golden State Warriors have gone the last four seasons without winning a championship, and many would argue there's no shame in that.

They won four titles in eight years. It was inevitable that the good times would come to an end.

But what's unusual about the Warriors' current predicament is they own control of their next seven first-round picks AND their superstar player is still playing at a very high level.

That has fans questioning why the front office has been prioritizing the future over the present with Stephen Curry.

How we got here is a combination of front office mistakes and bad injury luck. It's difficult to pinpoint the biggest mistake team governor Joe Lacob has overseen.

But the one that deserves the most criticism is holding onto James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga for too long and watching their trade value evaporate.

Compounding Mistakes

Of course, some will say drafting Wiseman and Kuminga at all is the reason the Warriors are now a fringe playoff team with little hope of winning a playoff series, let alone a title.

To recap, the Dubs took Wiseman second overall in 2020. LaMelo Ball (third overall pick) and Tyrese Haliburton (12th overall pick) are among the players they passed on.

Then, the Warriors took Kuminga seventh overall in 2021. Franz Wagner went one pick later.

On some level, I'd argue the Dubs got unlucky with these picks. Many evaluators believed Wiseman was worth a top-two pick. Kuminga's tantalizing athletic profile had opposing front offices interested in acquiring him for years.

This isn't to say that the Warriors deserve no blame for taking them and struggling to develop them. But what's more damning is they lost sight of the ultimate goal after drafting them.

When the Lakers signed LeBron James in 2018, he was 33 years old. When the Warriors won their fourth championship in 2022, Stephen Curry was 34 years old.

Let's review how each team handled building around their mid-30s superstar.

Lakers

- In November 2019, traded 2017 No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball, 2016 No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, draft rights to 2019 No. 4 pick De'Andre Hunter, two first-round picks and one first-round pick swap to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis
- Won a championship in 2020

Warriors

- Held on to Wiseman after winning the 2022 title before trading him at his lowest value in February 2023 for Gary Payton II
- Held on to Kuminga before trading him at his lowest value in February 2026 for Kristaps Porzingis
- Lost in the second round in 2023; missed playoffs in 2024; lost in the second round in 2025; missed playoffs in 2026

Had the Warriors followed the example from the Lakers front office and dangled Wiseman, Kuminga and multiple first-round picks right after winning the 2022 title, they would gotten a great piece in return.

Before you say "but they couldn't afford another star," Wiseman and Kuminga were making a combined $15.3 million. OG Anunoby was making $17.4 million. Lauri Markkanen was making $16.5 million. Golden State could have found a way to get a great player and keep the championship core together.

Upon winning the title, the Dubs didn't need convincing that they had a star who could lead them on a title run. Curry just proved he could do it.

Instead of prioritizing the present, they worried more about who could lead the Warriors after Curry's retirement. So they held on to Kuminga even though he reportedly could have been a centerpiece of trade packages for Anunoby (2023 trade deadline), Pascal Siakam (2024 trade deadline) and Alex Caruso (2024 trade deadline).

Any of these trades could have helped the Warriors go on a deep playoff run, but the (extremely unlikely) possibility of Kuminga becoming a superstar was more important than giving an actual superstar (Curry) support.

The Present Day Conundrum

Now that Curry is 38 years old and coming off consecutive seasons with signifcant injuries, it's at least understandable that the Dubs front office is approaching trade talks cautiously.

There's a way in which the Warriors can thread the needle by making an impactful trade while not mortgaging the future, but many of the reported trade prices for stars would have been riskier than the potential reward.

The ironic thing is trading Kuminga for Anunoby (and then re-signing Anunoby) would have the Warriors in a better place now even if their goal was to prioritize the future. In this hypothetical, they would be able to trade Anunoby for more first-round capital than they gave up getting him.

But if they had Anunoby now, they probably wouldn't be thinking about how much to get in a trade return for him. They'd probably still be competing for deep playoff runs.

And that's one of many reasons why holding on to Wiseman and Kuminga too long has been the costliest blunder in Curry's quest for a fifth ring.

Add us as a preferred source on Google