With Mark Jackson's departure, there were a lot of confused, sad faces around the Golden State facilities and throughout the NBA.
Even though the Warriors had finally become relevant, and they had great chemistry, centered around the charismatic, christian coach, they were not happy, and felt they could do better. In a move that baffled most, they fired the coach that had got them to the outskirts of the promise land, so the fair-haired, now prodigal, son of the dissed zen master could come in and take the team in a new direction.
So begins the Steve Kerr era in the east bay. A man who would like nothing more than to bring a little Love to the great drama, and make us all forget about Mark Jackson. Kerr wants to get Kevin Love to be specific, but who in the NBA doesn't?
Kerr has made it clear he wants to keep the ball moving in Golden State. He wants to run a triangle, and he wants it flowing. Kevin Love has expressed an interest in Golden State so apparently the idea of of being part of that offensive package sounds good to the Timberwolves star.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Warriors are a legit destination for Love, but they are having trouble including Klay Thompson in a package to pick him up.
The Timberwolves have other options around the league, so don't expect Love to remain on the table much past the draft. Teams can begin trading as soon as their seasons are over, but most teams wait until after the draft before they seriously start considering trades and conditions.
Without Thompson being in the package, the warriors could package David Lee, Harrison Barnes and the 2015 first-rounder for Love, who finished behind only LeBron James and Kevin Durant in player-efficiency rating this season and represents that floor-stretching power forward Kerr covets for his type of triangle.
A number of teams can offer better deals, the Chronicle point out, Chicago, one of Love's top choices, owns the 16th and 19th picks in June's draft and has a handful of young players on its roster. Phoenix and Boston could offer as many as three first-round picks from the franchises' slew of choices, and Houston might propose something with multiple picks and multiple young players.
However, if Love joined forces with Steph Curry on a revamped Golden State team next year, most fans in and around Oakland will be asking, 'Mark who?'
However, If the Warriors don't get better, then the golden boy Kerr will always have the ghost of Mark Jackson to deal with.
After Love, Carmelo Anthony is on the table, and he likes the idea of working with Kerr, and would have probably stayed in New York had the Knicks landed the coach. Anthony could also get the job done in Kerr's offense. So the Warriors better make a call and go all in on one of them.
Apparently Golden State has also looked into acquiring Arron Afflalo from Orlando.
Either way, Golden State better be ready to pull the trigger, especially in the Love deal, because the longer they wait, the less likely they get either star and maybe lose out on Afflalo, too.
It's safe to assume David Lee will be part of whatever trade occurs this summer, if the Warriors can swing it, as he doesn't have the three point skills and speed Kerr is looking for, and his contract is too large to hang on to. The Warriors owe him $30 million over the next two years.
