What’s next for the Warriors? KO’d by Lakers, defending champs face crucial offseason

Golden State’s 2022-23 season began with Draymond Green punching teammate Jordan Poole, and it ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers defeated the Warriors 122-101 in Game 6 Friday, advancing to the Western Conference finals where they will play Denver in the conference finals.

For Golden State, the loss could mean the end of their dynasty that began in 2015 with a championship. It continued with titles in 2017, 2018 and 2022.

But this year, the Warriors were the sixth seed. They had a strong showing against third-seeded Sacramento in the first round but were unable to get past the seventh-seeded Lakers with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and their revamped roster.

What does the loss for the Warriors? Is this the end of Golden State’s dynasty with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all together?

All three expressed interest in running it back next season and Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “Steph, Klay, Draymond, our core guys, they have plenty left to offer.”

What went wrong?

Measuring the impact of the preseason punch is impossible, but it had an impact on Golden State’s season. It hung in the air and the Warriors were concerned about it all season.

On the court, the Warriors were a top-10 offensive team, No. 14 defensively, but they were just 11-30 on the road and lost all three in Los Angeles in the conference semis. They were turnover-prone during the regular season, averaging a league-worst 16.3 per game, and that carried over into the playoffs, especially against the Lakers.

Golden State also suffered from absences and injuries. Curry played in just 56 games, and Wiggins 37, missing a chunk of the season due to personal reasons.

The Warriors are older and were unable to perform at the level required to win a title this season. Golden State’s stats against the Lakers don’t look bad overall. But zoom in on the losses, and Curry shot 33.3% on 3s, Thompson 30.4% and Poole 30%. Curry and Thompson were a combined 6-for-26 on 3s in Game 6.

What’s next for the Warriors?

The Warriors have several decisions to make in the offseason − around personnel, player salary and front-office executives.

Let’s start with the front office.

Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers’ contract expires at the end of the season and his future with the franchise is unclear.

Myers joined the Warriors in 2012 and while not responsible for drafting Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, he has signed them to multiple extensions and kept them with Golden State. He drafted Draymond Green and Jordan Poole, and with deep-pocketed ownership Myers had freedom to make significant trades and free-agent signings, including the Kevin Durant and Andrew Wiggins acquisitions. He also hired Kerr as coach.

He is the architect of four championships teams − the first in 2015, back-to-back in 2017 and 2018 and last year’s title − and has managed crises that include injuries to Curry and Thompson, suspensions to Green and the punch before the start of this season.

Myers, a former NBA player-agent, will have options in or out of basketball. The Washington Wizards need a person to lead basketball operations, and a big name with a successful resume gives a franchise instant credibility.

Losing Myers would sting but Golden State also has a solid foundation in the front office, and former NBA player Mike Dunleavy Jr. is the team’s vice president of basketball operations.

Roster and salary decisions coming for Warriors

Who plays for Golden State and the amount of payroll dedicated to those players go hand-in-hand. Warriors owners, led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, have telegraphed they want to reduce payroll and the amount of money they owe in penalties for going well over the luxury tax threshold. The Warriors paid $170 million in luxury taxes for 2021-22 and will spend about the same amount for 2022-23.

They could pay a staggering $200 million-plus in luxury taxes for 2023-24.

Owners don’t like paying luxury taxes for teams that aren’t contenders, let alone $200 million. But owners also like winning championships, and they can convince themselves there is another run left with Curry, Thompson and Green.

Players are owed significant dollars next season: Curry, $51.9 million; Thompson, $43.2 million; Poole, $28.7 million; Green, $27.5 million if he exercises his player option; and Wiggins, $24.3 million.

Green is the question mark but not the only one. He may want a new deal, and as big a part of Golden State’s success as he has been, what kind of deal is satisfactory for both sides? “I want to be a Warrior for the rest of my life,” Green said after Game 6. “I want to ride out with the same dudes I rode in with.”

What do the Warriors do with Poole who signed a big contract in the offseason based on his play last season, especially during the playoff? He wasn’t that player in this season’s playoffs, and the punch isn’t going away.

Some changes are coming. How drastic will they be?

“The organization has some decisions to make,” Kerr said. “We’ll eventually get to that point.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Warriors knocked out of NBA playoffs: What’s next for Golden State?