> … It felt like light punishment. The Warriors know it feels like light punishment. It is light punishment, especially after they suspended Draymond for a game in late 2019 for his on-court verbal confrontation of Kevin Durant. But this is how it works when the two sides have gone about as far as they can with each other and just need to get through another year. Maybe only another year.
> … In so many ways, this is the beginning of the accommodation stage in a turbulent but prosperous marriage. The sticking-it-out-while-the-kids-are-still-in-school final phase. All the parties involved still love each other and still understand they’re better together than apart (for now). But the strains in this long-term relationship have become very visible. The patchwork is happening before our eyes. The arrangements and compromises are all too obvious. It feels like the clock is ticking down.
> … They didn’t break up. They worked hard not to break up. But if a team that has won this much and gone through this much has to take a week to make sure there isn’t a dramatic divorce right now, that’s a large sign that there’s probably a breakup coming eventually.
JordanKneePoole
Relevant excerpt
> We’ll hear more from Curry, Looney, Draymond and others in the coming days. But as the smoke clears, I think we can presume three important things from all this:
> • *Draymond’s future with this team beyond this season is in serious doubt.* He’s not getting the max contract extension he wanted this summer and he may never get it. He has a player option next season; he’s obviously hurt his value throughout the league with this incident, but he can re-establish a lot of it with another great season. Maybe he can re-establish it with the Warriors, too.
> But there’s a luxury-tax crunch hitting the Warriors in July. Team executives were already not sure they wanted to make a full recommitment to Draymond before he hit Poole. Even if they were hoping the punch would be just another blip they got past, once video went public there was no way it would ever be forgotten. It’s indelible. And it’s obvious that there’s even less allegiance to Draymond within the Warriors’ leadership now. And when and if Draymond understands that, he might start planning his exit, too.
Kdog122025
Tim’s always got… interesting takes on the Warriors.
KitchenerLeslie_
In another universe Draymond’s mom and TK are besties, drinking white wine and planning the next book club meeting.
lunabagel28
There’s a world where he plays well, wins a last title, and gets the bag from another team. There are a number of young teams like Detroit who will have space. There’s also a world where he self destructs physically and emotionally and will have no options but to take the 28 million PO. If he opts in next year that means something bad has happened and will not be good for us next year
Mygaffer
TK is a good reporter who does a terrible job of understanding the NBA or the Warriors.
Miss_Daisy
Thought Kawakami was a teacher, I wanna hear Ohya’s take on the draymond situation
Indythrowaway22
Do you all have a subscription to The Athletic? I can’t even read the damn article.
8 Comments
> … It felt like light punishment. The Warriors know it feels like light punishment. It is light punishment, especially after they suspended Draymond for a game in late 2019 for his on-court verbal confrontation of Kevin Durant. But this is how it works when the two sides have gone about as far as they can with each other and just need to get through another year. Maybe only another year.
> … In so many ways, this is the beginning of the accommodation stage in a turbulent but prosperous marriage. The sticking-it-out-while-the-kids-are-still-in-school final phase. All the parties involved still love each other and still understand they’re better together than apart (for now). But the strains in this long-term relationship have become very visible. The patchwork is happening before our eyes. The arrangements and compromises are all too obvious. It feels like the clock is ticking down.
> … They didn’t break up. They worked hard not to break up. But if a team that has won this much and gone through this much has to take a week to make sure there isn’t a dramatic divorce right now, that’s a large sign that there’s probably a breakup coming eventually.
Relevant excerpt
> We’ll hear more from Curry, Looney, Draymond and others in the coming days. But as the smoke clears, I think we can presume three important things from all this:
> • *Draymond’s future with this team beyond this season is in serious doubt.* He’s not getting the max contract extension he wanted this summer and he may never get it. He has a player option next season; he’s obviously hurt his value throughout the league with this incident, but he can re-establish a lot of it with another great season. Maybe he can re-establish it with the Warriors, too.
> But there’s a luxury-tax crunch hitting the Warriors in July. Team executives were already not sure they wanted to make a full recommitment to Draymond before he hit Poole. Even if they were hoping the punch would be just another blip they got past, once video went public there was no way it would ever be forgotten. It’s indelible. And it’s obvious that there’s even less allegiance to Draymond within the Warriors’ leadership now. And when and if Draymond understands that, he might start planning his exit, too.
Tim’s always got… interesting takes on the Warriors.
In another universe Draymond’s mom and TK are besties, drinking white wine and planning the next book club meeting.
There’s a world where he plays well, wins a last title, and gets the bag from another team. There are a number of young teams like Detroit who will have space. There’s also a world where he self destructs physically and emotionally and will have no options but to take the 28 million PO. If he opts in next year that means something bad has happened and will not be good for us next year
TK is a good reporter who does a terrible job of understanding the NBA or the Warriors.
Thought Kawakami was a teacher, I wanna hear Ohya’s take on the draymond situation
Do you all have a subscription to The Athletic? I can’t even read the damn article.