OKLAHOMA CITY — In the aftermath of a sixth consecutive road loss for the struggling Golden State Warriors, their outspoken power forward, Draymond Green, was asked about the biggest difference between how they played last season following the Jimmy Butler trade and what is happening now.
“I think everybody was committed to winning (back then) and doing that any way possible,” Green said. “Right now, it doesn’t feel that way.”
After trading for Butler in February, the Warriors went 23-8 to finish the regular season. This season, they opened with a road win over the Lakers in Los Angeles and sprinted to a 5-1 start.
But a condensed, road-heavy portion of the schedule has fatigued the veterans and exposed flaws, most recently in a 25-point blowout loss to the Nuggets in Denver and Tuesday night’s 126-102 blowout loss at Oklahoma City, leading to Green’s coded comments.
“I think everyone has a personal agenda in this league,” Green said. “But you have to make those personal agendas work within the team confines. If it doesn’t work, you kinda got to get rid of your agenda or eventually the agenda is the cause of someone getting rid of you.”
When ESPN approached Green after his news conference for more clarity, he said “everyone” has to shoulder a share of accountability for the recent slump.
“That’s what this road trip is for,” Butler said. “Everybody has to be honest with themselves. Everybody has to be honest with everyone else.”
When the term “agenda” enters the mix, the subliminal spotlight tends to shift toward two of the Warriors’ youngest core members who have been outspoken about their desire for more — third-year guard Brandin Podziemski and fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga.
Podziemski had a number of comments in the lead-up to the season about his long-term career ambitions, including a news conference answer to a question about whether he wants to be as great as Steph Curry. Podziemski said he “wants to be better than him,” an answer that elicited eye-rolls and continued references behind the scenes. Podziemski’s numbers are relatively stable from a season ago.
Kuminga’s elongated contract dispute hovered over the franchise all summer. Within it, Kuminga made clear his ambition for a more consistent and higher-usage role. Through 12 games, he has played the most minutes on the team: 348.
Everything was humming for Kuminga during the 5-1 start, leading Warriors coach Steve Kerr to label him an entrenched starter because of his defensive activity, rebounding and improved passing. But Kuminga, like a chunk of the roster, has stumbled the first 11 days of November.
Ball security has been a particular red flag. Kuminga had five turnovers in 24 minutes in the loss to the Thunder, his fourth game of at least four turnovers in the last seven. Kerr and Butler identified the team-wide turnover numbers as a major issue.
“Myself, I can’t have turnovers,” Butler said Tuesday night. “JK can’t have turnovers … We’re the ones that have to keep our turnovers down.”
But the state of the Warriors often comes back to the state of Curry. His mini slump and sickness kick-started this skid. He made only 16 of his 42 shots in two road losses at Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Upon return from the trip, he contracted an illness that forced him to miss three games.
Curry returned against the Thunder but admitted his rhythm and conditioning were compromised. Curry went 4-of-13 shooting in 20 ineffective minutes against the defending champs and committed five fouls, including the first flagrant foul of his 17-year career.
“I kinda fell into (the agenda thing) a little bit myself,” Curry said. “Trying to get myself going. But the bigger issue when you lose is you start to look around and figure out what’s the issue. Commitment to winning is just running the floor, rebounding, taking care of the basketball. It’s not really about shots going in or not.”
The schedule doesn’t lighten for the Warriors. They had a late-night flight to San Antonio for the second half of a back-to-back Wednesday against the surging Spurs.
Kerr said Green is “banged up” and might not play. Curry’s status is also in question, though he said he is pushing to be out there. It is the second of a six-game road trip.