Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the Golden State Warriors were unable to land Paul George this past offseason.

It’s no secret the Warriors pursued the nine-time All-Star. He said on his own podcast he thought a deal had been “close” before things fell through.

Based on a report from ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, Golden State wasn’t prepared to sacrifice its best remaining assets to facilitate a sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.

“The Warriors and Clippers engaged in talks about a potential George opt-in for the final year of his contract worth $48.7 million and then a trade,” he wrote. “The Clippers were willing to make a deal with their division rival, according to sources, but were looking for something of value to help restock their asset cupboard if they were going to take back an undesirable contract and be in the second apron.”

To that end, the Clippers were prepared to take on Andrew Wiggins and the remainder of his four-year, $109 million contract if a younger player such as Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski was thrown in as well. On Kuminga, Youngmisuk reported he “never seriously came up in talks of any significance.”

When the Warriors failed to make a blockbuster addition or two, it seemed like they were potentially limiting their ceiling in what’s left of the championship window with Stephen Curry on the roster. Instead, Golden State is 7-1 and fresh off a 118-112 victory over the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Granted, the Warriors are still waiting for Kuminga to make his breakthrough. He’s averaging 13.1 points on 44.2 percent shooting and head coach Steve Kerr moved him to the second unit after just three games.

Podziemski isn’t playing much better, either. His scoring average (9.3 points) is only fractionally higher than last year, while his shooting (37.8 percent overall and 18.2 percent on threes) has declined.

But the formula of standing pat for the most part and building depth around Curry and Draymond Green is working.

Buddy Hield is off to a scorcher. He can’t sustain his 50.7 percent clip from beyond the arc but has been a great secondary scoring option. Kyle Anderson is filling out the stat sheet in the same way he has across his career. Even Wiggins is again performing like the effective two-way player who was instrumental in Golden State’s 2021-22 championship run.

George, meanwhile, missed the Philadelphia 76ers’ first five games and might require a pretty proactive resting policy to manage his health all year.

Perhaps the bottom eventually falls out for the Warriors and they slip into the play-in race in the Western Conference. For now, the front office’s relatively measured approach in the summer is looking like the smart play.