The Golden State Warriors could have remained a top team, but one costly mistake continues to haunt them.
The Golden State Warriors ran the NBA between 2015-2022. There were some down years, like their 15-50 season in 2019-20, but Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson missed all but six games with injuries, and it was their first year without Kevin Durant.
Aside from that season, the Warriors won four titles, set the regular-season win record, and ushered in a new era of NBA basketball.
With Thompson playing for the Dallas Mavericks and the rest of Curry and Draymond Green’s supporting cast either retired or finding success elsewhere, the Warriors are 21-20 and in 10th place in the Western Conference this season. Their dynasty is presumed to have fallen.
However, one mistake prevented them from continuing their excellence well into the next decade.
The Warriors made one major mistake
Throughout their “Light Years” dynasty, the Warriors’ front office made all the right moves. They opted to go all-in on Curry, trading away then-franchise guard Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut, who was a crucial piece of their first title in 2015.
They drafted Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, who became all-time greats, signed Andre Iguodala, Durant, and revitalized Shaun Livingston’s career, and even turned Jordan Poole into a star.
In short, there was seemingly nothing the staff in Golden State couldn’t do.
After their forgettable 2019-20 season plagued with injuries, the Warriors landed the second overall pick in the 2020 draft and were poised to land the next face of their franchise for the post-Curry era. As Curry started to decline, this player would enter his prime and be ready to carry Golden State.
With the second overall pick, the Golden State Warriors selected James Wiseman from the University of Memphis, one of the biggest draft misses of all time.
Picking Wiseman was a mistake, even in the moment
Coming out of high school, Wiseman was predicted to be the first overall pick, although the emergence of Anthony Edwards, Obi Toppin, Patrick Williams, and Isaac Okoro in the NCAA and LaMelo Ball in the NBL hurt his stock since injuries kept him sidelined for all but three games.
Wiseman had some defensive faults but was seen as a complete offensive weapon down low who could run the pick-and-roll with Curry out of the gate.
However, he only played in 60 games for Golden State over two and a half seasons and was traded to the putrid Detroit Pistons, who let him walk in free agency to the Indiana Pacers.
In Indiana, he played six minutes of the first game of the season before being ruled out for the season with an Achilles tear.
Heading into the 2020 Draft, Wiseman was clearly not the best player on the board. All three top picks, Edwards, Wiseman, and Ball, had some concerns about their passion and motor, but two of them have emerged as All-Stars. Wiseman, on the other hand, is barely hanging on to his NBA career.
Playing “what if” is rather fruitless. The Dubs weren’t going to select Ball. His cantankerous attitude and already-established celebrity would not have fit into their culture, but the Warriors could have reached and instead selected Okoro, Williams, Toppin, Onyeka Okongwu, or anyone else who is still in the league.
Among all 58 players selected in 2020 who recorded an NBA appearance, Wiseman ranks 56th in VORP, ahead of only Killian Hayes and Théo Maledon. His -3.9 box plus/minus is good for 40th place.
Even with the Dubs presumably passing on Ball, they could have at least landed a solid role player to fit in with their young core of Johnathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Brandin Podziemski. Perhaps, if their second overall pick worked out, Curry and Green could have handed the reigns to Kuminga, Poole, and the unnamed hero of their story in an alternate universe.
Had the Warriors taken a flier on Ball and drafted him, Curry would be paired with a guard who is averaging 29.5 points per game this season and is leading the Eastern Conference backcourt in All-Star votes.
While his boisterous and colorful personality would likely have clashed with Steve Kerr, his talent would have been enough for the two to put their differences aside.
For an organization defined by excellent drafting and free agent signings, their biggest miss has defined their decline.