During the San Francisco 49ers’ most recent run success — one that saw them appear in four NFC championship games and a pair of Super Bowls — the underlying question was: how will the team afford to pay all these guys?
Monday, we got the answer: they won’t. Monday was the first day of the new league year, as well as the beginning of free agency, and boy were the 49ers busy — and not in a good way, as far as most fans were concerned. San Francisco traded, let walk or cut nearly a dozen guys who played key roles over the last five years. That includes safety Talanoa Hufanga and offensive guard Aaron Banks through free agency, and cutting fan-favorite fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Make no mistake about it: this is a rebuild and the most recent Super Bowl window is now shut. Not only will there be no Super Bowl runs over the next three to five years, they will struggle to even secure a playoff spot.
The good news is, the 49ers have a ton of draft picks coming up. The bad news is, they have a ton of draft picks. While the prudent way to build a winner is through the draft — it allows teams to develop talent relatively cheaply — it also means patience will be required as that talent develops.
Assuming they evaluate properly and make the right choices in the draft, which is a bit of a gamble. So no more chances on borderline guys, or players who sustained significant injuries in college, or raw talent. They need to find players who are nearly ready to step in and play right away, which, again, is a gamble.
The biggest deal has yet to be made, however, with the impending contract extension of quarterback Brock Purdy. Last year, owner Jed York said Purdy’s new contract would, “reset the market.”
Is that still going to be the case? Does York really want to spend $50 million for a quarterback on a rebuilding team? An even bigger question is: will Purdy want to sign a long-term deal now that the team is going back to square one?
***
And speaking of draft picks, the San Jose Sharks have a haul of them over the next couple of drafts as freewheeling general manager Mike Grier all but gutted this year’s team as he continues to build for the future — whenever that might be.
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The Sharks have been one of the worst in the NHL, again, this season, but have some exciting young players forming a core. But Grier was not content with the status quo and made a series of moves at the NHL trade deadline last week, that should put the Sharks in the running for worst record again and the top overall draft pick because he completely gutted whatever chemistry this year’s team had developed. As it stands now, these guys are probably wearing name tags in the dressing room.
***
Count me among those who wrote off the Golden State Warriors as they sputtered through the first three-quarters of the season. But c’mon, no one could have imagined the impact one guy would make.
The Warriors were 25-25 and the epitome of a .500 team before the trade for Jimmy Butler: win one or two, lose one or two. Steph Curry was sitting out with knee tendinitis on a regular basis and there was just no joy in their play.
Then Butler came aboard and everything has turned around. After Monday’s win over Detroit, Golden State is 10-2 with Butler in the fold and look like a completely different team.
The Warriors are 10-1 with Butler in the lineup. The one game he didn’t play, a 126-119 loss to Philadelphia March 1? They looked exactly how they did pre-Butler — lethargic and uninterested.
Since the guard’s arrival, the Warriors went from struggling to get into the play-in tournament, to currently the sixth seed and in the playoffs — with an outside shot of improving on that. They are only five games behind the No. 2 spot, which is actually quite a few in the NBA.
But the trade has invigorated both the Warriors and Butler, who are playing some of the best ball in the NBA right now. Will it be enough to carry them to another title? That still seems like a big ask, but I guarantee if they keep playing like this, they’ll be a tough out and nobody will want to play them.
Nathan Mollat is in his 24th year covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.
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