With Bob Myers stepping down from the Golden State Warriors, a new GM is required. Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless offered takes that amount to pure baloney.
Now that Bob Myers has stepped down as GM of the Golden State Warriors, the team needs a replacement. Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith chimed in.
Neither one specifically commented on who should replace Myers, which is fine because the team is inclined to go in the direction they feel is best. However, other factors brought up; notably, the advice offered to whoever takes the role, have people shaking their heads and rolling their eyes.
Bayless went the route of saying Myers left because the team was going south. Going south for vacation? Because, if memory serves, despite all the drama that ensued in the offseason, the team did win a playoff series against the Sacramento Kings before bowing out to the Lakers.
"If this is just about money and it could be, then shame on Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. My gut feeling from a distance is it's not just about money," Bayless said on "Undisputed" on Wednesday morning. "Bob Myers, on a national scope outside of Dub Nation, is not a huge figure. He's not exactly a Jerry West sort of GM stature figure. But I think I understand why he is stepping away. He's basically quitting. He's saying 'I'm out,' because they did offer him a new deal, and I don't know the specifics of it, but I'm sure it was very competitive with whatever the best GMs are making.
"Bob Myers sat back and said I got a pretty good reputation around the league. If I want another job, I'm going to get another job because I'm going to get multiple offers as they become available. He said 'I need to sit still for a while.' … So he needs to just go sit quietly. Wife, three kids. Just get away from it. Let his head clear and say, 'OK, what's my next chapter? Where can I start fresh?' Because I think he's getting out while the getting is good because he sees what's coming. It's going south."
You have to shake your head and wonder where Bayless comes up with this stuff. Then again, you look at his former co-partner and Smith and wonder if there are any of the same tendencies that follow.
Smith said that the team should trade Jordan Poole after what has transpired this season and the infamous offseason punch from Draymond Green that cast somewhat of a dark cloud throughout this year as the Warriors attempted to defend their title.
"I propose they do trade Jordan Poole," Smith said. "I think that so much of Golden State's success, outside of their shooting prowess and their cohesion and chemistry, is everybody being on the same page mentally and emotionally, and he didn't seem to be that guy. He got his bag and his mentality changed."
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless offered rather blasphemous takes on the current state of the Golden State Warriors
Merely trading Jordan Poole would mean he is the reason for everything that went wrong this season. That's not true. Did he not look the same this year compared to 2022? Sure, but it's not like Poole is the next great thing in the NBA. He had a good year and was paid for it, and this year was not the same as last year.
The reality is that both Smith and Bayless, while firm in their points, are not seeing the whole picture and instead are basing their analysis on small factors. First, with Smith, blaming Poole is unfair. A career-high 20.4 PPG on average this year during the regular season, he contributed plenty despite a poor postseason. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the punch may have had an impact, but how much exactly is unclear.
Meanwhile, for Bayless, what evidence suggests that Myers is leaving the team because it's going south? Where is the indication of that? When did Myers quit, exactly? Guys like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson don't exactly grow on trees.
It's best to take what Skip and Stephen A. say with a grain of salt and let the organization do the talking. Whoever takes over as GM in the Bay Area will have their work cut out for them, but it's fair to assume they can handle the task and won't heed the "advice" of two outspoken television analysts.