NBA Finals 2015: The Warriors are ushering in a new era in the NBA

The Warriors show how much the NBA has evolved.

Jun 17, 2015, 12:00 PM UTC

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA game has changed and no team better exemplifies that than the champion Golden State Warriors. What used to matter no longer does and the what used to not matter now is essential. Post play is a thing of the past. Today's game is about spacing and three-pointers and being able to switch on defense. The Warriors do all three things better than everyone else. It's no coincidence that they're now the only playoff team to not have their season end with a loss.

It all starts with Stephen Curry, a basketball god sent down from the heavens to help usher the game into a new era. With hand-checks no longer allowed there is no one in the league who can guard him. He may be the best ball-handler in the NBA and that's not even his greatest skill. He turns pick-and-rolls into cheat codes. Even when he seems to struggle, like he did so often in the Finals against Cleveland, he still manages to average 26 points and six assists per game.

But there's so much more to the Warriors and that's what makes them so great. There's Klay Thompson, perhaps the best two-way shooting guard in the league. There's Draymond Green, a player with no primary position but who can play all of them on both ends of the floor. There's Andrew Bogut who is both essential to team's success but, as we learned this series, not required. There's a Andre Iguodala, who didn't start a single game all season but wound up being named the Finals MVP, despite averaging just 16.3 points per game. And of course there are all those bench players, like David Lee and Leandro Barbosa and Festus Ezeli, each of whom is capable of playing a major role on any night.

The Warriors won 67 games this season, and were No. 1 in defensive efficiency and No. 2 in offensive efficiency. They then ran through the Western Conference. They knocked off the New Orleans Pelicans in four games, the Memphis Grizzlies in six games and the Houston Rockets in five before sending the Cleveland Cavaliers home in the NBA Finals.

Victorious Gentry: "Tell Mike D'Antoni he's vindicated! We just kicked everyone's ass playing the way everybody complained about!"
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) June 17, 2015

Sure, all these series wins came against depleted teams. But they were also the result of Golden State being so flexible. They could go big or small. They have so many talented two-way pieces that head coach Steve Kerr can mix and match until he finds a group that the opponent just can’t contain.

That’s what the Warriors’ legacy is going to be. Whether this is the start of a dynasty or just a one-year run right now is unclear. What is clear, though, is that this team -- full of talented players capable of doing so many different things -- will go down as the one that changed the way basketball is played in the NBA.

3 other things we learned

The Warriors need to figure out a way to pay Draymond Green. He got off to a sluggish start, but his play after being moved to the center position for Game 4 completely changed the series. In the last four games Green averaged 14.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists. He recorded a triple-double (14 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in Game 6. But basic stats don’t tell the story. On offense, when Green’s the screener, pick-and-rolls are impossible to guard. Big men aren’t quick enough to stay with him. Trapping the ball-handler doesn’t work because Green is such a good creator.

"They told me I can't play in this league" pic.twitter.com/ziuRUYHeWb
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) June 17, 2015

Then there’s the defensive end of the floor, where Green does things no one else in the league can. His versatility is what allows the Warriors to play their aggressive, switch-happy defense. That he was able to hold his own at the center position in the paint meant that Golden State could then keep all those guards on the floor. That the Warriors outscored the opponents by 16.7 points per 100 possessions int he playoffs, per NBA.com, is not a coincidence. Green is essential to everything Golden State does. He’s also an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The Warriors are one of those talented young teams that’s going to eventually have to make some tough decisions. But letting Green walk should not even be a consideration.

LeBron James's decision to return Cleveland was smart. Think of it like this: he just lost in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in his career, and no one in their right mind -- in other words, excluding Skip Bayless, et al -- has a legitimate negative word to say about him. He's completely flipped the narrative. No longer is he the unlikeable mercenary. No longer does he have to win multiple titles to earn praise. Now he gets points for trying really hard, as he should, by the way (a good argument can be made that he deserved the Finals MVP award). It's just funny to note how different he's been treated by the public since going back to the Cavaliers. That -- not those silly hometown narratives -- is why he left Miami. He's no longer the villain.

The Cavaliers should bring back David Blatt. If he was good enough to be hired last year he's good enough to remain the coach. Losing to a superior team in the Finals because two of your best players are out is not the sort of thing that should cost a coach his job. That Cleveland was able to win two games this series is pretty remarkable. James deserves most of the credit, but Blatt should get some praise too. Those wins came as the result of a carefully laid-out game plan. Game 6 made it clear that Blatt just had no options. Going back to Timofey Mozgov, and keeping a big lineup on the floor, didn't work. Neither did going small in Game 5. The Warriors were just too deep and too good. Obviously this choice is up to LeBron, but, in his first season in the NBA, Blatt proved that he's a quality coach who could end up being a really gone one.