UPDATE 1:35 pm: The Warriors have decided to let Keith Smart go as coach, according to CSN Bay Area.
Smart had been the head coach of the Warriors for one year, but had spent the previous seven as an assistant.
This isn’t a shock — owner Joe Lacob wanted to put the team on a different path. Smart was never his guy, he was the convenient guy at the start of the season who got a one-year deal. But this is a franchise with a history of having a lack of direction or changing direction ever two seasons. Let’s hope that this is not a continuation of that trend.
12:45 pm: Golden State has taken its time with deciding whether or not to bring back coach Keith Smart.
You’d like to think that was because they have been formulating a long-term plan — keeping GM Larry Riley for a couple years and grooming Bob Meyers to be his replacement being part of that — but as this is the Warriors we’ll need evidence of a long-term plan before we believe it.
But the Oakland Tribune says an announcement on the fate of Smart may come as soon as Wednesday. And Smart may not like it.
Smart was in trouble the moment he agreed to a one-year deal. He was solid in his debut — this was a team with about mid-30s in wins talent, and that’s what he got out of them. They got better.
The question is what kind of team is Golden State trying to build, and is Smart the guy to coach that kind of team? Like we said, we’d like to think the Warriors are looking at it that way, planning for the long term, but we need evidence first.