Steve Kerr admitted the obvious on Tuesday: Draymond Green’s punch of Jordan Poole fractured the Warriors.
Kerr said that trust was lost after the incident and that while the Warriors recovered a bit and started to find that identity in the playoffs, there were scars that haven’t healed.
He also described Poole as the “sixth foundational piece” on Golden State following a woeful postseason from the 23-year-old guard. Trade rumors are swirling heavily around him.
It begs the question as to where Green and Poole stand. While Kerr praised Poole, he said the Warriors aren’t championship contenders without Green. That’s praise that’s hard to ignore, as Golden State seeks to retain Green, who may or may not exercise his one-year, $27.59 million player option.
Logan Murdock of The Ringer asked Poole where the relationship stands, after Poole had previously said Green took him under his wing in his first few seasons:
“I don’t have no answer for you,” Poole tells me when asked where his relationship with Green stands now. “Other than that, we was just on the court and teammates, and we was out there trying to win games.
“What I do recall saying at the beginning of the season is that, ‘We’re coming. We’re going to come out here. We’re going to play on the court. We’re going to try to win a championship.’ We were teammates. It’s just business, honestly. And that’s really all it was, it is, it has been. It’s just been business. It’s been basketball.”
That’s not exactly the most reassuring sentiment.
If the Warriors need to mend bridges and re-tool, it might make a whole lot of sense for them to jettison Poole. Time will tell, but changes are likely coming for the Warriors. Signs are that they won’t be to the core.
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