Warriors Owner Gets Honest About How Difficult It's Going To Be To Keep Core Group Together

The thing about dynasties is that they come to an end. When it comes to the Golden State Warriors dynasty, many thought their loss to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals was the end. They had other plans, however, and climbed the mountain yet again this past season for their fourth title in eight years.

We're not talking about a Warriors dynasty if Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green elected to split up at some point over the last eight seasons. Golden State's ability to not only keep those three together but also keep them happy is a testament to team ownership and the culture in the Bay Area.

Team owner Joe Lacob realizes how great his franchise has had it for nearly a decade now, but he also knows that there's likely going to be a day when those core three players aren't on his team's roster.

Lacob recently spoke with The Athletic's Tim Kawakami about keeping the core championship group together and got honest about just how "difficult" it's going to be to keep it intact.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Lacob said. “I’m not going to sit here and lie to the fan base. It’s going to be really difficult to figure out what we’ll do next summer."

"This year, we’re good. I’ll call this running it back. Some people may think we lose Payton and a couple other people, we’re not back. (But) there’s always going to be some change.”

Next Summer Will Be Monumental For The Warriors

For Warriors fans, the one positive from Lacob's quote is "next summer."

Golden State should be contenders yet again next season, but following that campaign is when things will get mighty interesting.

Green has a player option that kicks in the following next season, Curry's four-year, $215 million deal begins this upcoming year, and Thompson will make over $40 million each of the next two seasons.

That doesn't give the Warriors all that much wiggle room when looking at the cap and bringing back familiar faces worthy of a pay raise. Then again, the NBA is a 'what have you done for me lately league,' and another championship run would make any changes sting a whole lot less.