To some extent, the Warriors are similar to the Mavericks

Now looking back at the Mavericks that won the Western Conference championship in 2024, in the core rotation, Luka is 25 years old, Lavery is 20 years old, PJ Washington is 25 years old, Gafford is 25 years old, Jones Jr. is 25 years old, and Irving is slightly older at 31 years old (but mentality + technology may be the most mature version). Even if they lose in the finals, the future is still bright. Don’t forget, it was them who defeated the top-seeded Thunder in the Western Conference 4-2 in the semifinals. When the Thunder stepped up their efforts in the second year and introduced Harteng and Caruso who were better able to fight tough battles, the Mavericks blew themselves up.

Luka, as a historical ball-carrying core, carries the most production, endures the strongest defense, and creates everything, allowing Irving to once again demonstrate the league's strongest secondary offense, allowing Lively and Gafford to become the forwards with the highest shooting percentage for a time, and allowing Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington to enter the discussion sequence of the league's high-quality 3D forwards. Of course, the depth of the series also exposed Luka's own shortcomings, such as physical fitness, defense, and the ability to control emotions.

However, Luka's shortcomings should not only be strengthened by himself, but also should be made up for by coaches and teammates through tactical design and teamwork. In other words, basketball is for five people.

However, the management believes that it is all Luka's problem. It is Luka who has limited the team's upper limit. It is Luka's laziness and lack of self-discipline that caused the team to lose the finals. "Defense can win the championship."

So they sent away Luka in exchange for thick eyebrows, and got the top pick Flagg. As a result, so far this season, with 5 wins and 13 losses, Big Eyebrow has only played in 5 games, and almost everyone's production is worse than when Luka was here.

How ridiculous. This is a team built around Luka. After years of trying, they finally figured out who is suitable to play beside Luka, only to turn around and dismantle the core. Now the Mavericks team has all kinds of supports and various end points waiting for support, but they are missing a ball-handling developer. It's like you developed and designed a whole set of ecosystems and applications based on the A19 chip. Just because the system occasionally ran defective, you just removed the chip. Only to find that the system completely collapsed and the entire ecosystem and applications didn't work. You can tear them all down and start over. Is this atypical layoffs hitting the main artery?

It was later discovered that the abilities displayed by other players on that Mavericks team were more or less an extension of Luka's abilities and an extension of Luka's influence on the court. Without Luka, some people can still play, but they have to play harder, such as Irving; some people can't play well, such as the friends who are waiting to catch the ball and shoot three-pointers or to eat the pie under the basket.

Unfortunately, Nick Harrison can Fire, but Luka will never come back.

There are also similarities in the team building of the Warriors.

What the Warriors need to answer in the early days is, who is suitable to play with Curry?

With Curry’s style of play and personality, he can be compatible with anyone and any style of play. But on the other hand, who can maximize Curry's power is the key to the problem. As a result, Dream Chaser, who can provide solid cover, timely passing and unlimited defense changes, successfully replaced David Lee. Klay, who is also proficient in movement and shooting and excellent defense leadership, became one of the "Splash Brothers". Iguodala, who has an all-round basketball skills and only a slightly inferior shooting, is like a fish in water, and so on.

However, with the invasion of age, injuries and the constraints of the salary system, the quality and strength of the teammates around Curry have declined year by year. Payton is responsible for leading defense and cutting, and Hield is responsible for positioning and shooting. The pursuit of dreams is still there, but the state stability and emotional stability have waxed and waned. These people are still suitable to play with Curry, but they are no longer able to maximize Curry's power. What can be attacked cannot be defended, and what can be defended cannot be attacked. Do you want both offense and defense? Sorry, not enough money.

Now the Warriors have to answer another question, who can play without Curry?

This is due to the fact that he is getting older and Curry's playing time has to be reduced for the purpose of protection. Some minor injuries or rests are inevitable. This will lead to the Warriors always losing points in the transition period or the game without Curry. The team's appearance is extremely ugly, and it is even difficult to throw the ball.

The Warriors in the past, not to mention KD, could operate independently anywhere, Klay at his peak could shoot without any blind spots, and even Barbosa and Livingston were good singles players.

Among the current Warriors, Jimmy is the one who can handle most things without Curry, but on the one hand, he is also 36 years old. On the other hand, Jimmy relies more on defensive matchups and his own lineup. When encountering large forwards and the team's space is not good, Jimmy's offensive efficiency cannot be guaranteed. Last year's playoffs against the Timberwolves clearly demonstrated this to us, and a victory is hard to come by. Kuminga is considered second place, but it is difficult for Kuming to drive his teammates when he swings, and his own stability needs to be examined. If you count further, it will be gone.

In the future, when we look at the Warriors' rotation or trade, we just need to think about:

1. Is he suitable for Curry?

2. Can he play without Curry?

If the first one is met, it is considered a correct answer; if two are met at the same time, it is an excellent answer; if only the second one is met, there is a high probability that it will be a wrong answer.

So Curry is to the Warriors more than Luka is to the Mavericks.

The difference may be that even if Yong Guan likes young talents, such as selecting Wiseman and Kuminga, he is not stupid enough to shake Curry's foundation in the Warriors.