Draymond Green has never had a filter, and he said in his exit interview what many people around the Warriors seemed to think about the future of coach Steve Kerr in the wake of the Warriors' elimination by the Suns in the play-in.
"I hope he's our coach next year. You want my opinion? I think not," Green said. "Just because it just feels like that. It felt like that was it. I also hope I'm on this team next year, we also don't know that. And man, if it was, what a run it's been. So lucky to have had for 12 years Steve as my coach."
Kerr is not going to be back as coach next year, barring a significant change of heart and a renewed faith in the direction things are heading, reports Monte Poole at NBC Sports Bay Area.
The general belief among the Warriors – openly expressed by Draymond Green – and around the league since the weekend is that Kerr will be comfortably jobless after meeting with [co-owner Joe] Lacob and [GM Mike] Dunleavy. Most expect a decision in a matter of days, not weeks...
Two sources insist that any change of heart would require, among other factors, Kerr having renewed faith in his role as the franchise shifts toward the future.
The Warriors' front office does want to see a shift in how the team plays — the freewheeling days when the Warriors did not concern themselves as much with turnovers or offensive rebounds, because they could just overwhelm teams, are gone. Here is how ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Anthony Slater put it.
If Kerr returns, they will discuss staffing and what management believes is a need for philosophy tweaks, team sources said, focusing on diversifying the offensive attack and winning the analytically friendly possession battle more often. There has been a feeling internally that they were too reliant this season on 3-point variance.
Those old Warriors could show up in flashes, as they did against the Clippers in the first play-in game.
"For one night, we're us. We're champions again," Kerr said after the emotional win.
However, Golden State could never sustain those runs, as evidenced by their loss to the Suns in the next play-in contest. A lot of that had to do with an older team facing injuries. Jimmy Butler was out for the season, starting in mid-January, with a torn ACL. Curry missed 27 straight games, from January through nearly the end of the season, due to a runner's knee injury. Al Horford, brought in on a one-year deal to add depth, missed 37 games. And the list goes on and on.
The Warriors under Kerr were at their peak a decade ago with a "death star" small-ball lineup that worked because Green could defend centers. Then Golden State added peak Kevin Durant to that mix and was one of the best teams the league had ever seen for a couple of years.
Those days are gone — teams have gotten bigger but maintained their athleticism and shooting (as epitomized by Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren). The league has gotten younger and more athletic, while the Warriors' core is closer to 40 than 30.
Kerr may see all that and decide now is the time to step away, to let the franchise choose its next path. It sounds like that's where things are heading.