Talent > Fit
The Golden State Warriors were dealt a pretty rough hand starting with Kevin Durant’s calf strain during the Western Conference Semifinals against Houston. Since then, as we all know, Kevin Durant tore his Achilles and then signed with the Nets, and Klay Thompson tore his ACL against Toronto which will likely keep him on the sidelines for a majority of the 2019-2020 regular season.
With the Durant signing, the Nets were forced to move on from D’Angelo Russell, who the Warriors wisely traded for via sign and trade. The league is more “positionless” than ever as teams are constantly searching for versatile players who can do a lot of different things on the floor.
For example, look at the Raptors roster that just won a championship. From the top down they had guys who can shoot, defend, and make plays. That’s hard to guard, and the Warriors adding Russell does just that – makes them hard to guard.
This isn’t even about “positionless” basketball though, this is about teams never wanting to give up an asset for nothing. The combination of Stephen Curry, Russell, and Thompson (once healthy) might not be a good fit, especially defensively. I personally don’t think that Russell is a good compliment to the Warriors and their style of play, but that didn’t matter and shouldn’t matter to the Warriors right now.
They turned Kevin Durant leaving into a trade for a young All-Star guard instead of nothing. For a team pushing up against the hard cap and paying millions in luxury tax expenses already, that was the only way they were going to get another quality player without trading Curry, Thompson, or Draymond Green.
Let’s also not forget about the motivations of the front office when making a deal like this. After 5 straight trips to the NBA Finals, do you think Bob Meyers and Joe Lacob wanted to play their first season in a brand new arena with a team that wins 40 games and misses the playoffs? I don’t have Bob Meyers’ cell phone number so I can’t ask him, but I’d bet my holographic Charizard card that he doesn’t want to do that.
Trading for Russell keeps their head above water while Thompson rehabs his knee and gives them an asset. Maybe Russell ends up being a great piece for the Warriors, or maybe he just ends up being a trade piece. Either way, they’re better off with him, than without him. You take the chance on talent and worry about the fit later. The Warriors executed this and no matter how good or bad the fit is with Russell, it was the right move.