[brid autoplay=”true” video=”777846″ player=”23231″ title=”5%20ideal%20Damian%20Lillard%20trade%20scenarios” duration=”90″ description=”Could the Portland Trail Blazers be forced into pulling off a Damian Lillard trade this coming summer? Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports seems to think that the all-time great shooter is getting impatient in the Pacific Northwest.For good reason. Despite his otherworldly play, the Blazers have failed in building a contending team around the future Hall of Famer. At 30-years-old, it might be time for the sharpshooting guard to force his way out of the Pacific Northwest.If so, pretty much the entire NBA would come calling for a six-time All-Star who is averaging 27.5 points and 6.9 assists since the start of the 2016-17 season. Below, we look at five ideal offseason Damian Lillard trade scenarios.” uploaddate=”2021-05-06″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/thumb/777846_t_1620320766.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/sd/777846.mp4″]
It was 15 years ago that the Golden State Warriors shocked the NBA world. Riding a veteran group that included Stephen Jackson, Baron Davis, Al Harrington and Jason Richardson, Golden State became the first eighth seed to knock off the top seed in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Current Warriors star Draymond Green was a mere 17 years old when the Warriors defeated Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.
Now a three-time NBA champion, Green is hearing his current Warriors being compared to the 2006-07 iteration of the team. He’s also not having any of it.
“The ‘We Believe’ days are over,” Green told reporters after Tuesday night’s win over the Phoenix Suns. “I’ve won three championships, I’m not part of no ‘We Believe’ team. And like I said, that’s no disrespect to the OGs that came before me, I love those guys and what they started here is incredible. But, nah, we’re not no ‘We Believe’ 2.0. We got f—— Steph Curry on our team.”
The always-boisterous Green is never afraid to tell the masses how he feels. More than anything, he seems to think that the comparisons to the Golden State Warriors team of 15 years ago is somehow disrespectful to the greatness of one Stephen Curry. Green isn’t necessarily wrong.
Stephen Curry can lead the Golden State Warriors to contention
With all due respect to Baron Davis, he was no Stephen Curry. In fact, we’re talking about the greatest shooter of all-time and a potential two-time scoring champion. What Curry has done this season to lift up a Warriors team that’s been without Klay Thompson for the duration is something special.
He just joined Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in an exclusive club by scoring at least 30 points for the 35th time this season. Recently, Curry has been on an epic roll as he attempts to lead the Golden State Warriors out of the play-in tournament and into the NBA Playoffs.
Stephen Curry’s recent brilliance
Since returning from a tailbone injury back on March 29, Curry is averaging an otherworldly 36.5 points while shooting 44% from three-point range. He’s nailed double-digit shots from distance five times during that span. No other player in NBA history has more than five.
It’s not a coincidence that the Warriors are 15-8 during this 23-game span with impressive wins over the Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets (twice), Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns. In fact, Golden State just swept a back-to-back against the Jazz and Suns — two teams with the best records in the NBA.
Can the Golden State Warriors make a deep run in the NBA Playoffs?
As of right now, it looks like Golden State would take on the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in a battle for the seventh seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The winner of said matchup would take on the Phoenix Suns in the first round with the loser having to play the winner of the other play-in matchup for the right to go up against the Utah Jazz.
As we’ve seen recently, Golden State can go out there and compete with some of the top teams in the NBA. With a combined six victories over the teams mentioned above in a month span, this is magnified further.
So, it doesn’t appear that these Warriors are comparable to the “We Believe” team. Andrew Wiggins is playing out of his mind on both ends of the court. Draymond Green could be playing the best ball of his career. Stephen Curry has hit GOAT status. Jordan Poole is morphing into a star.
Regardless of what happens moving forward in the playoffs, these Golden State Warriors are not a fluke. The same thing can’t be said about the 2006-07 iteration of this team.