Joe Lacob Has a Bold Plan for the Warriors' Next Era

Here’s the thing about destination franchises in professional sports …

They don’t raise white flags; they raise banners.

Such is the current state of the Golden State Warriors.

No team has been more successful in the last dozen seasons: Four championships and nearly two others.

Even the Kansas City Chiefs can’t match that.

Kudos to Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. But it doesn’t happen without the team’s willingness to blow the top off the salary cap with the additions of star players like Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant.

And that’s why owner Joe Lacob deserves the credit as much as anyone.

Lacob quickly became the face of a new Warriors ownership group in 2010, inheriting a mess. Soon, the franchise had the best coach (Kerr), the best general manager (Bob Myers) and the best arena.

Not coincidentally, he also then had the best team, the best fans and the best extended period of NBA success since Michael Jordan.

He had created, remarkably, a destination franchise even more attractive than Boston and Los Angeles.

Alas, Myers, Durant, Thompson and Iguodala are gone. Kerr, Curry and Green have one foot out the door. And it sure appears Jimmy Butler III, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford are being pushed in the same direction.

So is this, as some are forecasting, the Warriors’ last stand?

The answer is best stated in the form of its own question:

What is it about Lacob that you don’t understand?

First off, nothing about what has transpired this off-season indicates the upcoming Warriors season is more important than any other.

Did they trade their lottery pick for a win-now veteran? No.

Did they go all-in, mortgaging their future, in an effort to attract Giannis, LeBron or Jaylen Brown? No.

Did they let Green or Porzingis walk in order to redirect funds toward a more versatile roster? No.

In fact, by creating a shockingly realistic scenario in which ALL their big-money players are no longer around next season, they’ve set themselves up to make one of the boldest moves in NBA history.

They could, in essence, become an expansion team next season.

How brilliant would that be?

Think about that …

You start with an old, crippled team filled with posterboys for load management that almost surely will be back in the lottery next summer. That gets you your Thompson with the 2027 lottery pick after having added your Curry (summer-league MVP Yaxel Lendeborg) with your 2026 top choice.

They in turn lead you to a Sacramento Kings-level 2028 season, much like Curry and Thompson did in 2012.

Then you take your wheelbarrow full of cash and throw it at 2028’s top free agents, which at this point are projected to be Giannis and Nikola Jokic. There’s your new Iguodala and Durant.

And we haven’t even mentioned Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje, the No. 1 pick in the 2028 draft you’ve worked so hard to earn. There’s the cherry on top.

If there’s any doubt Lacob could pull this off, you need look no farther than that other Golden State team he owns – the Valkyries.

They started with nothing more than the best owner in the league, the best arena in the league and the best city in the league in which to live.

Less than two years later, the Valkyries are arguably the best team in the WNBA, having been “light years ahead” of the competition in terms of luring international talent.

If Boumtje-Boumtje needs recruiting, Lacob knows half a dozen women who speak his language.

Never underestimate what smarts, money and a little sun can buy.

The Warriors’ last stand? Destination franchises don’t run out of ammunition; they drop a bomb on you.