The Fading Warriors, defeated and desperate, need a trade in the worst way

SAN FRANCISCO — The defeat was palpable. Tangible. Engrossing.

In the mood of the Warriors owner Joe Lacob. In the tone of Warriors coach Steve Kerr. In disposition of Warriors superstar Steph Curry. In the silence of the Warriors’ heartbeat, Draymond Green.

But perhaps most troubling, Golden State’s defeat was conspicuous in the absence of agitation elsewhere.

The locker room was far from lugubrious after an incriminating 114-98 loss Tuesday to the tired and mediocre Miami Heat. The Warriors ended a six-game homestand with another lackluster effort. Amazed by Miami’s zone defense and sheer grit. The Warriors played like a team with no faith, no fight, no pride.

Their offense was so anemic that another strong showing from Curry had little impact. Games like this — 31 points, 8 of 17 from 3 — once felt like a tidal wave for opponents. Lately, Curry has been the least needed just to keep the Warriors in the game. Draining water from a sinking ship with a Solo cup.

Especially with Jonathan Kuminga now out, the Warriors’ hopes, it seems, rest on starting beans from behind the arc. Their offense, their season, has turned into a Hail Mary. What do we have here now? Will you ride or die?

Death is doing nothing. To accept that this reality is becoming.

“We can’t be frontrunners,” sophomore big man Trayce Jackson-Davis declared after the game. “We’ve got to dig in. We’ve got to find our soul. That’s kind of what Draymond said, it’s our soul that we’ve lost. We’ve lost our spirit. And we’ve got to get that back. We’ve got to play hard basketball. We’ve got to play with confidence. And play hard on the defensive end of the floor. I think if we do that, we’ll come back.”

This team needs a trade in the worst way. Three of them, maybe, to reconfigure this list. But one to fight for the preservation of who they are and what they are about.

The Warriors definitely want one. And it would cost them. Desperation takes a toll. But the price of doing nothing may be greater. This is not just a season at stake. The pride of a proud franchise is on display.

This kind of play affects a culture. This type of mood comes with consequences. They have tried all the setups. They have manipulated the rotations. A scheme cannot compensate for what they lack.

When the Warriors have been in this position before, they always had something to look forward to – the return of Klay Thompson, the development of young players, the greatness of Curry and Green to get them over the hump. Now it’s all on Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.

As their 12-3 start fades into the horizon, they have morphed into something completely unimpressive. This team is now wilting under the weight of expectation. This team doesn’t fight fire with fire. This team may be flat out…weak.

“It’s glaring how bad we can be at times,” Curry said.

One of the signs of resilience, and how the Warriors lack it, is in layups and free throws. For all the talk about 3-point shooting being plentiful, the best teams can do both.

The Warriors are 21st in shots made in the restricted area, 21st in field goal percentage in the paint, 24th in free throws attempted, 30th in free throws made, 13th in transition points, 23rd in open 3-pointer percentage. All the easy points seem to elude them.

Kerr called it a personnel issue. They just don’t have players who can thrive in the painted area. While spot on, perhaps that is too easy an answer as they are skilled if not skilled. It’s not all a capacity issue.

When the going gets tough in basketball, determination dictates imposing a closer shot. Manufacturing points by getting to the line. Force the game on yourself. Picking a fight. Yell at each other. Do something.

“There’s no room for self-pity in the NBA, in life in general,” Kerr preached. “We can’t let disappointment dictate our approach to the game. We have to do the opposite. We have to bring more fire. We have to outscore our opponents when things don’t go our way. That was the most disappointing. I just felt like everyone was down. If you don’t have that, you have to find a way to build it up.”

It is not that they are soft or incapable or unworthy. Something like that. They are disappointing because it is the opposite. They have talent. They have strength. The potential is there, conceptually.

Yet they are critically flawed and hopelessly committed to their weaknesses.

It was clear at the season opener that the Warriors would suffer not having a bonafide No. 2 star next to Curry. But it is even worse than many thought. The league is more open, more capable than ever. The Warriors’ collective skills are below average. Their collective IQ doesn’t come close to making up for it. Nor their cohesion. And it’s becoming the norm for them not to fight through it.

The Warriors can’t nothing.

“The deeper you get into it,” said Curry, who has been through this a few times now, “you hate to have that kind of deja vu. So you try not to allow your mind to go there. … But it’s frustrating . When you experience winning, you hate losing even more because you know what it takes to get there. And if you don’t have the answers, it’s a rough feeling … especially when nights like this happen.”

On Tuesday, Lacob brooded in council with Dunleavy outside the Bridge Club at the Chase Center. Kerr was so bothered that he refused to praise the individual performance of Jackson-Davis, who had 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Curry, clearly deflated on the sidelines, added another track to his evolving album of press conference truths. Green, the eloquent, declined to speak to the media after the game, saving his words for the team. He himself knew that a public explanation would ring a bell.

But what was noticeably absent was any resilience. Their response to defeat was defeated.

No guts seemed shaken by losing. No anger came out of the embarrassment. No passionate rallying cries. This doesn’t give off the vibes of a team trying to salvage something bigger than their own season. And how could it?

“There are always comparisons to the ’22 season,” Curry said. “This team hasn’t done anything. So confidence can go down if you’re missing shots, you feel the pressure, you feel like everybody’s trying to do a little too much to get over the hump. Trying to maximize the minutes you have out there and when you have a bad minute or two, you might start to overthink it a little bit and get down on yourself a little bit. We all fall victim to that sometimes. I don’t know, that’s just been the pattern with our group.”

This team is not. Everyone in the organization can feel it. They are all aware of the need to change. Nothing is golden about the state they are in. Nothing is precious about the skill they display.

Will they go out like this? Weak. Willingly. Boring enough.

This kind of defeat can continue.

(Top photo of Stephen Curry during Tuesday night’s loss to the Heat: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)