Top Takeaways from Giannis, Bucks vs. Steph Curry, Warriors

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Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Jordan Poole may not be a Splash Brother just yet, but he’s at least a Splash Cousin.

Poole scored 30 points to add to Klay Thompson’s 38 as the Golden State Warriors earned a 122-109 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.

Stephen Curry was held to a season-low eight points, but it didn’t matter because Poole and Thompson spearheaded the offense. Thompson knocked down eight threes in what was by far his best performance since returning from a 30-month absence, while Poole continued his stellar run to start March.

“I was eager for a night like this, but a midseason shooting slump, it’s not going to kill my ego,” Thompson told reporters. “I’m still going to go out there and compete.”

The Warriors have won three straight games, righting the ship after losing seven of their previous eight.

The Bucks, who were led by a 31-point effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo, had won six straight before going cold Saturday night. Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday finished a ghastly 11-of-30 from the field in the loss.

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Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Let’s start with the positive: Jordan Poole has gotten really good. His 30-point performance Saturday night was his sixth straight game of 20 or more points, and he’s averaging 23.0 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in March while shooting 52.7 percent from three-point range.

The hot streak has come immediately after Poole shot 25.9 percent from three in February, but the fact of the matter is that he’s a 22-year-old guard who has improved dramatically in each of his three NBA seasons. This is the type of developmental home run the Warriors needed as James Wiseman remains a nonfactor and Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are long-term question marks.

Poole has 20 points a night and solid secondary ball-handler written all over him for the next decade. He played the role of pseudo Klay Thompson until Klay was able to get back on the court, and he’s fit in surprisingly well even when Thompson returned to the floor.

Now the (potential) negative: The Warriors have to pay Poole—and soon. He’s eligible for a rookie extension this summer and has played himself well into eight figures annually.

We’re not about to feel bad about billionaires having to pay wages to the players who make the sport; the question here is about roster construction. Thompson and Curry are set to make around $95.1 million by themselves in 2023-24, the first year of a potential Poole extension. Are the Warriors willing to invest $115 million into a three-guard rotation?

That’s without even mentioning Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins. Green has a $27.6 million player option for 2023-24 and will probably start angling for another extension this summer.

Wiggins is another question entirely. He’s a free agent after the 2022-23 season, and what he could command on his next contract is, well, just about anyone’s guess. At the season’s midpoint, Wiggins seemed to have finally found a home and a comfortable role in Golden State. He wasn’t necessarily worthy of his All-Star selection, but he was a really good player.

The past two months have seen Wiggins regress on both ends of the floor, once again becoming a regular object of Warriors Twitter ire.

Is Wiggins part of the long-term solution? Does it come down to a choice between Wiggins and Poole? There is, at some point, a limit to the amount the Warriors can and will spend. Having Curry, Thompson, Green, Poole and Wiggins all under contract at market value is a recipe for the largest tax bill in NBA history.

One possible solution: The Warriors could explore packaging Wiggins and Poole together this summer in a trade for a bona fide star. These are champagne problems but ones the front office has to start considering the second this season ends.

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Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

The Bucks have no worries during the regular season. That’s the luxury of having the best player in basketball. They can plug themselves in for 50-ish wins every season for the foreseeable future so long as Antetokounmpo stays healthy.

There are few, if any, remaining concerns about Antetokounmpo’s supporting cast in the starting lineup. Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday earned their playoff bonafides last summer.

As for those critical minutes when Mike Budenholzer needs to give his stars a breather, that’s an entirely different story. Brook Lopez has played exactly one game all season. George Hill hasn’t played since Jan. 28 because of a neck injury. Patrick Connaughton’s been out for more than a month.

Adding Serge Ibaka blunted the effects of Lopez’s absence a little bit, but Ibaka has been a clearly diminished player all season while dealing with a lingering back injury. The Bucks are also giving heavy minutes to Jevon Carter, who couldn’t hack it in the Brooklyn Nets’ thin rotation, and Wesley Matthews, who probably isn’t an NBA rotation player at this point in his career.

The good news for the Bucks is that every East contender is dealing with its own combination of injuries and nonsense. The Nets have one superstar who is a part-time player over his refusal to get a vaccination and another who hasn’t played all season. The Miami Heat are leading the East despite being held together with Elmer’s glue most nights. The Chicago Bulls haven’t won a game all season against a legitimate contender. The Philadelphia 76ers are banking on James Harden—yes, that James Harden—being the key to their playoff hopes.

If the Bucks can get back whole, they are the favorites to win the East. But if their bench has a setback or one of their three stars gets hurt, the repeat chances go out the window.