Joe Lacob and the entire Warriors organization were dealt a major blow when Klay Thompson suffered a torn Achilles during a workout Wednesday. But as the NBA offseason ramps up with free agency getting underway, the team's CEO and controlling partner remains confident in his team's chances next season, as he told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami on Friday.
“I still think we’re going to be a good team," Lacob told Kawakami on "The TK Show" podcast. "The goal is to make the playoffs, obviously finish as high as we can, but make the playoffs, be competitive. And we’ll see what happens. Obviously, if Klay were here, I could sit here and be more confident about where I thought we might get to. I still think we can be very, very good.
“We do happen to have one of the greatest players in the world in Steph Curry. Draymond Green is an ultimate winner, he’s won three championships. We love Andrew Wiggins, we think he’s going to be way better than almost everybody out there seems to think. I think they’re crazy. I think this guy’s 25 years old and immensely talented. And honestly wasn’t in the best situation. He is in a very good situation now. And I think he’s going to be a lot better than people think. So I think we still have a very good team. We’ve got some holes; we’ve got some work to do and we’ll see what happens.”
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SIGN UP HERE Thompson tore his Achilles just over a month before the start of the new NBA season, after missing all of the 2019-20 campaign while recovering from a torn ACL.
RELATED: Iguodala explains why Klay so beloved by Warriors, NBA fans
Lacob already seems to have shown a willingness to spend whatever it takes to field the best roster he can in 2020-21, as the Warriors reportedly have acquired wing Kelly Oubre from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oubre started 55 games for the Phoenix Suns a season ago and averaged 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Once the roster is completed after free agency wraps up, we'll have a better idea of just how competitive this Warriors team can be.
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The Warriors remain steadfast in their belief that the team can contend for a championship with or without Thompson, but there's no question that players like Wiggins, Damion Lee and Eric Paschall will need to take major steps forward for Golden State to jump back into a loaded Western Conference playoff race.