Charles Barkley was not having it when Draymond Green tried saying Stephen Curry deserved Clutch Player of the Year over DeMar DeRozan because he was winning games, despite ending the season as the No. 10 seed.
Draymond Green: “DeMar my guy… but he couldn’t have [won Clutch Player of the Year] because Steph Curry was winning.”
Charles Barkley: “Y’all were winning?! Y’all were in the Play-In!”
Stephen Curry averaged 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists this season. His clutch stats were incredible, putting up 189 clutch points and earning 23 clutch wins. DeRozan was incredibly competitive on that front, averaging 24.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while putting up 182 clutch points and winning 24 games in the clutch.
Unfortunately, the Bulls were overall worse than the Warriors, so Green can use winning in his argument, despite the one-game difference in clutch wins.
The Warriors were, by record, the best 10th seed in NBA history. Curry might have deserved the award because the Warriors could have missed the postseason entirely. This award couldn’t go to most of the players on the top teams because their clutch stats were simply not as inflated as Curry and DeRozan.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished a distant third place in this contest. Kyrie Irving could have been in contention with his big shots all season but Luka Doncic’s presence means their stats cancel each other out, especially in the clutch.
Stephen Curry Thinks Warriors Will Return To Contention
Being eliminated in the first Play-In game to a shorthanded Sacramento Kings side isn’t how the Warriors thought their season would end. They have taken clear backward steps in the last two seasons and need to correct their course before it gets worse.
Curry believes the Warriors are just a few moves away from returning to contention.
“The sad part was just missing three wins to get out of the play-in and have yourself in a playoff series. Even a game like in Sacramento in the play-in tournament we had, you’re like ‘OK, we’re down one and can game plan to try to get back into the series.’ Early in the year, we had a lot of missteps and some absences. But you do realize we’re not that far off, even [trying] to stay at this level, at this peak for so long, there’s going to be some tweaks, we know.”
The Warriors have a litany of options when it comes to reshaping their roster this summer. The biggest question will be regarding Klay Thompson, whose contract is expiring after one of the worst seasons of his career. A big-money payday might be out of the question, but it’ll be interesting to see what the Warriors offer the franchise legend to return.
Chris Paul is also expiring, and the veteran point guard’s impact on the franchise wasn’t as difference-making as initially expected. With a dissatisfied and regressing Andrew Wiggins also on the roster, the Warriors have plenty of trades they can look at to come back swinging next season.