San Jose Mercury contributor Tim Kawakami broke bread with Joe Lacob and showed why you no longer “feel Chris Cohan’s numbing presence.” A very forthright Joe Lacob made his presence felt as an pleased but very unsatisfied owner, leaving no stone unturned in his critiques ranging from Stephen Curry’s disappointing sophomore season and Coach Keith Smart’s substitutions and rotations. But is Lacob saying too much publicly? I’ve mentioned before that Smart’s substitutions and rotations have been iffy, but they’ve produced wins even with Brandan Wright.
The owner called Ellis “our core, franchise player,” and agreed that Curry has not played to the standards of last season.
“Does that mean that Curry would be traded, or more likely to be traded than Ellis? Not necessarily,” Lacob said. "It really depends. “… This is all dependent on what you’re going to get in return.”
But the difference from just last summer is unmistakable: Curry used to be beyond trade talk, even for Lacob, and he’s not now.
Uh oh. Just when we thought the Monta versus Curry debates of who is the face of the franchise subsided with the wins, Lacob just went and disturbed the beehive. Fans over at Golden State of Mind have already been “buzzing” about this, but note that the Warriors are sub .500 and ask whether being the face of that is something worth mentioning.
Unfortunately, Curry’s defensive liabilities are magnified, I think, by the fact that the Warriors are absolutely defensively terrible at 2 of the other 4 starting positions. PF David Lee and C Andris Biedrins have equally been demolished by the leagues best and worst. Monta can be a solid defender. But, as the one that shoulders a bulk of the offense (and for good reason lately), his defense tends to slide down the priority pole. So that pretty much leaves Dorell Wright as the lone solid defender in the starting five.
But what are your thoughts about Lacob breaking up this backcourt? Realistic? Too much too soon? Is it worth making a major move to attract a superstar? Or will that even be worth it as the bay area is not exactly a hot geographic destination if the Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Chris Bosh sweepstakes was any indication last summer?