And don’t forget, this past offseason, the Warriors lost a $30 million chunk of salary when they jettisoned Chris Paul strictly for luxury tax avoidance. The NBA owners wanted a system that brought big-market, big-spending teams like the Warriors to heel, and they received it.

The Golden State Warriors are playing .500 basketball. They sit 11th in the Western Conference with a 21-21 record. Steve Kerr's team looks to have slipped into bad habits from last season, especially when playing down the stretch. However, some new, more worrying trends have also began to appear.