SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the rest of Golden State's front office staff had a feeling this season would wind up short of the ultimate goal for a franchise that has won four NBA championships over the past decade.
That's the way the season went for Stephen Curry and Co. 鈥� losing big leads, making costly mistakes, repeatedly unable to deliver the big defensive stop when it mattered most.
Coach Steve Kerr had hoped the 10th-seeded Warriors could somehow fight through the NBA's play-in tournament and into a playoff series. Instead, on Tuesday night and were eliminated.
鈥淚 think the overarching emotion right now is disappointment. We鈥檙e still sort of settling in on what happened,鈥� Dunleavy said Thursday. 鈥淏ut on the whole, we knew this season no matter how long it went along, was going to end at some point probably disappointing us and so not a shocking surprise. But I think as far as what we need to do, it's pretty straightforward. It's to get better. I think that presents a really good challenge for everybody."
Being run off the court by the Kings especially stung, given how closely the teams played this season but also the because the Warriors had thrilling seven-game victory against their Northern California neighbors in the first round of last year's Western Conference playoffs.
鈥淭hat was the worst game we played all year,鈥� Dunleavy said.
Now, they regroup and evaluate how much of the roster to keep intact.
Working to bring back Klay Thompson 鈥� at the right price 鈥� will be a priority going into the summer.
The 34-year-old Thompson in the loss to the Kings and becomes a free agent in July when his five-year contract worth nearly $190 million expires. He missed more than 2 1/2 years recovering from surgeries on his left knee and right Achilles tendon before returning in January 2022 and helping the Warriors to their most recent title that spring.
鈥淐ertainly we want Klay back first and foremost. I expressed that to him yesterday,鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淚 think our players have expressed that, our coach, front office, ownership, look, everybody wants Klay back. He鈥檚 still a really good player and I think we have enough good players in our system, we have enough assets to acquire good players and we have the ability to keep getting better."
The question for Dunleavy is whether the Warriors can make another title run while led by the core trio of Thompson, the 36-year-old Curry and Draymond Green, who is 34.
鈥淭here's a lot of value in our three guys being Warriors for life,鈥� Kerr said Thursday. 鈥淭here's a lot of value in ending with dignity.鈥�
Thompson has repeatedly said he would 鈥渓ove to be a Warrior for life,鈥� even if it was too soon Wednesday to address his future as he said he needed to decompress from the early finish.
Dunleavy said he is 鈥渉opeful, optimistic鈥� about the sides getting something done.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a mutual feeling. I mean, the guy鈥檚 been here a long time. He means so much to the organization,鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淲e really, really value him. So there鈥檚 nothing that would make me think that he want to go somewhere else or we don鈥檛 want him back. And for that reason I鈥檓 hopeful we can make it happen, but, you know, it鈥檚 a deal both sides got to be good with it and we鈥檒l work through that.鈥�
Dunleavy also said of Green, 鈥渇ully expect him to be back," following a season in which the fiery forward served two suspensions.
The 2022 NBA champions must get better defensively, Dunleavy said, having missed the playoffs following last season鈥檚 elimination by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
Losing games earlier in the season hurt late, according to Kerr.
鈥淲e put ourselves in a position to lose in an elimination game and we lost,鈥� said Kerr, who will shift gears to coaching first-time Olympian Curry and the U.S. team at the Paris Games. 鈥淲e won 46 games in a loaded conference. It鈥檚 usually enough. It鈥檚 not enough. ... It鈥檚 way harder now than it was nine years ago to succeed in this conference. This summer will be a lot of self-reflection.鈥�
This marked a tough finish to Dunleavy鈥檚 first season since taking over for Bob Myers, but it was also a year that saw rookies Trayce Jackson-Davis and Brandin Podziemski make sizeable contributions and Jonathan Kuminga emerge as a reliable rising star.
鈥淲e know clearly what this team was. It wasn鈥檛 good enough,鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt about that, there鈥檚 no what-ifs.鈥�
When Dunleavy and Curry spoke Wednesday, the GM expressed his disappointment that the veterans 鈥� and the young players 鈥� aren't playing deep into the postseason.
鈥淭hat's what everybody wants to see not only here in the Bay Area but frankly around the world, to see those compete at the highest level, so for them not to be able to do that is really disappointing,鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淚 feel for them. But it is what it is, it's our own undoing. We've got to live with it.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Janie Mccauley, The Associated Press
