The Warriors Built Their Dynasty The Right Way

A day after LeBron signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, stacking the Western Conference even more, the Golden State Warriors signed DeMarcus Cousins to a one-year, $5.3 million deal. This was despite Cousins being offered a better deal from the New Orleans Pelicans, proving that money sometimes doesn't talk.

The point is that the Warriors have built themselves their own All-Star team. Not a super team. Their own All-Star team. In fact, experts are starting to write in the Warriors as your 2019 NBA Champions.

Now before you chastise the Warriors for having a stranglehold on the rest of the NBA, remember the late-90's New York Yankees. George Steinbrenner could ink any player he desired. Roger Clemens? He got him. Jason Giambi? He swooped him up. Unlike the NBA, which has a salary cap, MLB is a free-range league, with owners willing to spend money on players just as long as they avoided the luxury tax and had the money to spend. Granted, the NBA's salary cap has loosened up significantly, especially with max deals being a factor. However, you still need to draft well in the NBA compared to the big-market, big-spending teams ruling the roost in MLB.

Golden State actually created their dynasty in a different manner. Drafting Stephen Curry with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, drafting Klay Thompson with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, and drafting Draymond Green in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft attributed to creating Golden State's core. That's right. Drafting. In fact, teams such as Philadelphia, Boston, and the Lakers have emulated Golden State's plan, spending years at the bottom to stockpile on draft picks.

Yes, Kevin Durant just signed a sizable contract to stay with Golden State. However, you can't discredit Draymond Green taking a pay cut to keep the core together. You can't discredit DeMarcus Cousins taking less money to go to Golden State (in fact, Draymond recruited Cousins to Golden State). All of these moves and more in an all-for-one philosophy has shown the team's willingness to bring home numerous championships. There aren't any egos on the team (at least for now) and everyone is focused on one prize: the NBA Championship.