One of the most important components of building a team has to be the identification and prioritization of the foundation of the team in the short and long-term. For the Golden State Warriors, the early portion of the season has given us some interesting information concerning where the team stands right now and what direction makes the most sense moving forward.

As has been written in this space numerous times, Stephen Curry has been and continues to be the centerpiece of the Warriors’ future. He plays a premium position and does it well, though he needs to improve his turnovers and defense over the next few seasons. Due to his spot as the centerpiece, thinking about the future of Golden State’s roster must consist at least some thought on how the players and transactions impact Curry and his role on the team. Now, this is not to say that Curry is untradeable or the only key factor in any personnel decision- the point is that his game should be a major part in the planning.

From there, this season started with an open question as to who comprised the next level of importance for the team moving forward. From a financial perspective, David Lee, Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins take the cake. However, the primary focus of identifying the core should be on talent and fit rather than the resources already committed to a given player. With that in mind, both Klay Thompson and Ekpe Udoh have made compelling cases to be considered with their higher-paid counterparts. Each has had a strong season in their own ways.

Thompson started the year as a more limited catch-and-shoot player and has progressively grown his game over the last two months to become a more complete offensive player. Both his ballhandling and his shot creation for others have made him a different breed of access for a team that has a nasty habit of taking bad shots and failing to move the ball on some possessions.

While Thompson has the statisticians buzzing, Udoh’s contributions to the Warriors are a little bit tougher to quantify. While his (comparatively) gaudy plus/minus has gained a cult following on the Internet and certain corners of Golden State’s media contingent, the lingering question is what his role could and should be moving forward.

Speaking with Udoh after the home win against Phoenix, he talked about how he continues to feel more comfortable guarding opposing power forwards and that defending back to the basket centers felt more like something he was doing to help out the team than his future with the organization.

That sentiment makes sense with Udoh’s physical profile and role as a weak-side shotblocker and defender when he has a size advantage. Many of the attributes that make Udoh a strong defender get lost with a stronger opponent in a way that he is unlikely to be able to handle with experience. The other issue with Udoh continues to be rebounding- despite being a solid defender and having good energy, his rebounding rate of 10.4 has him tied for 143^rd in the league. While Udoh does many things well, especially things that are necessary with the Warriors’ current undersized backcourt, his deficiencies create voids that are hard to fill with other big men.

As is the case with Udoh, Thompson has been productive yet has potential fit issues with the current roster. Given Curry’s current defensive flaws, it is imperative that the Warriors have a shooting guard who is not a liability on that end of the floor. As of now, Thompson has more than held his own with an opponent PER of 7.8 (15.0 is league average). However, the eyes have shown that he has been less dominant than that thus far. That said, the strange flux that the shooting guard position has been in offensively makes for additional flexibility with the position. Ideally, Thompson could play some small forward as well to allow the team to use other creative lineups both presently and down the line. I’d love to see how teams defend Curry-Ellis-Thompson with competence at PF and C.

The other big question about the core beyond the place for Thompson and Udoh must be Monta Ellis. Unlike David Lee, Ellis’ contract does not provide enough hindrance to make him untradeable. However, the problem for Ellis' trade value continues to be that not that many teams have a sufficient need for a player like him to warrant giving up assets in return. The other problem of importance is that while not overpaid, Ellis is properly paid, so his contract does not supply surplus value (unlike Curry and the other guys on rookie deals) so rival teams do not get other benefits they will compensate the Warriors for. I am of the mind that we know now that the Curry/Ellis experiment will not work in the long-term, so the team should be looking for the right offers for either while understanding not to trade Ellis when his value is at a low point. Being active with other general managers could yield a deal that makes sense for the W’s- after all, it only takes one.

Another consideration for the core is the fit between Udoh and Lee moving forward. While Udoh sees himself as a power forward (which is David Lee’s position), the combination of the two could actually work fairly well since so few teams in the NBA have big man combinations that can make a flawed Udoh/Lee combo fail on the defensive end. Teams like Portland, Minnesota and Oklahoma City have PF’s that Golden State should stick Udoh on and centers that will not punish the W’s too badly with Lee on them. A little bit of creative coaching and a willingness to try new things when ideas fail could make the Warriors a much harder team to beat on a night-to-night basis.

Considering the Warriors’ lack of salary flexibility due to their current salary structure and lack of an amnesty provision, they should use the rest of the season to evaluate each and every asset on their roster to determine who fits with each other to properly inform future rotations and personnel moves. When a team does not have enough space to make mistakes, information plays a crucial role- the time is now to see what the team has.