The Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers entered last offseason in similar positions. Both were former champions trying to maximize the remaining primes of their aging stars to return to the top. Both were bounced from postseason play early. The Warriors didn't make it out of the play-in tournament while the Phoenix Suns dispatched the Lakers in six games after Anthony Davis' groin strain.
The Lakers won the bubble title in 2020, and the quick turnaround to the next season hampered a roster that was long in the tooth. The Warriors had spent the last two seasons re-tooling their roster after Kevin Durant's departure with a dynastic resurrection planned for this season once Klay Thompson was fully healthy.
Both the Lakers and Warriors faced the same question last summer: What's the best way to return to legitimate title contention next season? Do we take a big swing or fine-tune the roster around the edges?
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The Lakers, less than a year removed from winning the title, chose Option A. After working on a deal to acquire Buddy Hield, the Lakers altered their plans at the 11th hour and went with the ultimate boom-or-bust move, acquiring Russell Westbrook for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell. The move, which put Westbrook, a ball-dominant guard who is a poor outside shooter and prone to defensive lapses, next to LeBron James and Davis and gutted Los Angeles of its wing depth.
What made the Lakers so good during their title run in 2020 was they had three quality wing defenders in Caldwell-Pope, Kuzma, and Alex Caruso, who could turn teams over and get James and Davis out in transition.
The trade for Westbrook, one which was done to put another playmaker on the floor with James, zapped the Lakers of that wing depth and shooting, which is critical to have next to James and Davis. The Lakers let Caruso walk to the Chicago Bulls and brought in a host of veterans in Carmelo Anthony, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Avery Bradley, and Kendrick Nunn to fill the void left by the departed wings.
The impetus was on coach Frank Vogel to make sure the Lakers' defense, their calling card over the past two seasons, didn't fall off. It did. The Lakers went from third in defensive rating in 2019-20, to eighth last season to 18th this season. Monk has had a good offensive season but isn't much of a defender. The rest of the motley crew, including Westbrook, have been a sieve on defense. Nunn has yet to play as he deals with an injury.
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
As for the offensive fit, the Lakers expected Westbrook to adjust his game. His cutting ability was supposed to be a massive weapon, with James and Davis handling the ball most of the time. His energy was supposed to be able to drag the Lakers through the dog days of the season. He was going to be a force in transition. None of that happened.
Westbrook has been a shell of himself this season. He has been booed by his hometown, and Vogel has removed him from the closing lineup. The Lakers are 26-29 and in ninth place in the Western Conference. With the NBA trade deadline less than a day away, the Lakers reportedly "feel urgency" to make changes and appear to be ready to wave the white flag on the Westbrook experiment.
The Warriors, on the other hand, took the road less traveled in today's NBA.
With the possibility of a Ben Simmons or Bradley Beal trade floating around last summer, the Warriors opted not to alter their roster for a player who wasn't a perfect fit with their championship core.
Simmons is talented, but his fit alongside Draymond Green never made sense. Beal can fill it up, but any trade for him -- or Simmons, for that matter -- would have had to include Andrew Wiggins. The loss of Wiggins would have cost the Warriors their primary wing defender and put more pressure on Thompson to be a two-way force immediately upon returning.
The Warriors, by all accounts, never seriously considered making a seismic deal to reshape their roster. They believed in Wiggins. He became an All-Star starter this season. They knew their significant acquisition was the return of Thompson, who is starting to find his groove a month after his return.
Golden State also didn't want to diverge from its ultimate plan. The one to contend for championships now while grooming Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jordan Poole to be the foundation of the post-Curry era. Any megadeal would have not only cost them Wiggins but also at least two of their young prospects.
That's not a dilemma the Lakers had to wrestle with as they traded all of their young talent either to acquire Davis (good idea) or Westbrook (bad idea). The Lakers' present and future is now, and however long James wants to stay there and can play at a high level. There is no two-pronged plan for the Purple and Gold. Their only goal is trying to maximize what remains of this version of James, and so far, it's not going well.
If the James-Davis pairing finishes with only one title, that should be seen as a failure. It's trending that way.
RELATED: Steph's honest response to criticism of Kerr
Patience is a virtue, and it paid off in spades for the Warriors.
They believed in their culture and in their vision. They brought in veteran depth, found a gem in Gary Payton II -- a former member of the Lakers' G League affiliate -- and returned to their "Strength In Numbers" mantra that helped ignite the dynasty almost a decade ago.
It's admittedly not a perfect parallel, but the results have been undeniable.
The Warriors got off to an 18-2 start as Thompson finished his rehab and re-announced themselves as a legitimate title threat. Golden State survived a January slump and now sits at 41-13 and in second place in the Western Conference. They have achieved all of this without their fully healthy roster playing one minute together.
Davis and James both have dealt with injuries. Talen Horton-Tucker has regressed. DeAndre Jordan and Bazemore are collecting cobwebs on the bench, and the Westbrook experiment has been officially ruled a disaster. It was DOA and has been given its last rights as the Lakers scramble to find a way out of the mess they created.
The Lakers could have made minor moves around the edges last offseason, knowing their early playoff exit was more about health and the quick turnaround from the bubble than roster defects. Instead, they panicked, gutted their depth and now are in a jail cell they are unlikely to escape until the offseason.
All the while, the Warriors stayed the course and, as a result, have re-ignited a dynasty that many thought would never reawaken.