Golden State Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy has given his honest assessment of the roster.
After losing the Conference Semis against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Golden State Warriors have a few decisions to make in the offseason.
They were not in a great spot before bringing in Jimmy Butler, but his arrival completely turned things around for them.
However, his performance in the playoffs was not great as per his standards and Dwyane Wade called out Butler for his failure in leading the way.
After the exit from the playoffs, reports have emerged the Warriors are set to have a few big moves in place during the offseason.
In his exit interview, General Manager Mike Dunleavy stated his thoughts on the roster that the team had in place this season.
Photo by Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty ImagesDunleavy is happy with how the Golden State Warriors are looking
Dunleavy, took over the GM reins from Bob Myers, a man who had led the franchise to four championships in eight years.
Although those were big shoes to fill, Dunleavy has made some big decisions including trading Klay Thompson and bringing Butler to the team.
He stated in his exit interview that he was a lot happier now than he was last offseason because of Butler – as the team now has a second star behind Steph Curry.
Speaking about the roster, Dunleavy said: “I think we made a big jump adding Jimmy Butler. This time last year I was probably concerned about our ability to have like a No. 2 guy.
“We went out this year, we got that, and now I feel better going into next season having a guy like Jimmy on our roster.
“We’ll build around that with him, Steph, Draymond, some of the other players we have.
I just overall feel like we’re in much better shape right now than we were a year ago. We’ll keep chipping away at this thing. As long as Steph, Draymond, Steve as well as our coach, as long as they’ve still got their fastball, we’re going to keep pursuing titles.”
Dunleavy on the Golden State Warriors season
The Warriors were pushed to seven games by the Houston Rockets solely because of how physical the young team was in their approach against the Dubs.
Beating the Timberwolves was always going to be tough, but the hamstring injury to Curry made things even more difficult, as the offense completely broke down without him.
Buddy Hield stepped up his performances for the team, but that was not enough as the Timberwolves had the presence of players like Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, who were brilliant all series.
Dunleavy stated the team could contend for titles with the team they have, but would have loved to find out more about the team fully fit, including Curry, who was not able to play the last four playoff games.
“I think if every year we can be in the mix in the conversation like we were this year , you need a little bit of luck; you need a little bit of good fortune. We didn’t necessarily get that the last couple weeks, but if we’re in the mix, these guys have a chance, and I think that’s the most you can ask for.
“Yeah, overall, weird way to process the season. I feel pretty good about it, but hate that we didn’t kind of find out more about how far this team could go,” said Dunleavy.