It’s do-or-die time for the Golden State Warriors and I believe that is what we saw during this offseason. But before we look into next season, let’s remember what has happened within the last year.
2022-2023
Last year we saw a Warriors team that won 44 games which was good enough to get them the 6 seed. But the number of wins doesn’t tell the whole story. Here are the facts… Andrew Wiggins missed 45 games and Stephen Curry missed 26 games. It is also a fact that when Curry, Klay, Wiggs, Dray, and Looney are on the floor together, there is no stopping them as they have had one of the highest +/- per 100 possessions in the entire NBA over the last couple years. Now onto the playoffs, as a Warriors fan, I was excited. How could I not be, history shows, that when Curry and the Warriors make the playoffs, they at least go to the finals and more often than not, win the championship. This is not what happened. After a super exciting battle with a young and talented Kings team in the first round, the Warriors were put to a halt by the LA Lakers. I will not get into the details of this series because lots of bias will show up. But long story short the Warriors were eliminated and sent into the offseason early.
NBA Offseason and the Summer
The NBA offseason started with a bang for the Golden State Warriors. First, we saw the Warriors part way with young star, Jordan Poole, in a blockbuster trade that brought CP3 to the Warriors. It was inevitable that either Draymond or Poole were gone this offseason and the Warriors didn’t waste any time. They then went on and drafted two players who could see valuable minutes in the upcoming season. These players are Santa Clara guard Brandin Podziemski and Indiana forward/center Trayce Jackson-Davis. Of course, we then saw the re-signing of past DPOY Draymond “Money” Green, the podcast legend himself. The Warriors then went on to sign Veteran big, Dario Saric. I believe this was the most underrated move they made and could potentially be the biggest. If we look back at last year, where did the Warriors struggle the most? They struggled with bench depth and lack of bigs especially during the playoffs. Dario offers both of those and even brings the versatility of being able to stretch the floor. The ability to stretch the floor as a big is something that all successful warriors teams from the past have had. Remember guys like Marreese Speights and David West on those early Warriors teams? Then you had KD, of course, and Draymond, who for some reason used to be a sniper. Then even in 2022, with Porter and Bjelicia. We could be seeing something special from Dario Saric this year. In conclusion, I believe the Warriors made the changes they needed to this offseason and set them up to be a championship contender.
Opening Night Prediction
Opening night we have a great match between Steph Curry and the Warriors and Kevin Durant and the Suns. With no Draymond Green on opening night, we will see a lot of the new additions and young players from Golden State. I am hoping to see big roles for third-year players Kuminga and Moody. As we saw in last year’s playoffs, Moses Moody had a big role, especially against the Lakers. He looked like a great two-way player and his jump shot is definitely coming along. For Kuminga, he is a guy with unlimited potential and Warriors fans have been waiting patiently for him to make a jump to the next level. After what we have seen over the summer and what he showed during the preseason, it is fair to say that this could be that season. I really hope Kerr puts him in spots where he can succeed. I feel he should see a lot of minutes with Chris Paul as the “point god” is known for his work boosting young athletic players. Kuminga is the real wild card and if he plays to even half of his potential this season, the league should be scared.
Opening night I predict we will see huge games from the superstars. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Curry, KD, Book, and Klay all go for 30. I am really interested to see the impact Chris Paul makes on the other guys. I believe he will definitely go for over 10 assists and wouldn’t be shocked to see him score over 20 himself. It is a revenge game after all. I think a bulk of his assists will go to the freak athletes of Andrew Wiggins, Johnathan Kuminga, and rookie Jackson-Davis. My bold prediction for opening night is that rookie, Trace Jackson-Davis, will see early success against the Suns and therefore will have a big role on opening night. I feel his athleticism will overwhelm the Sun’s bigs and will get tons of easy looks from guards, Curry and Paul. This will boost his confidence and hopefully carry for the whole season. In conclusion… The vets will do what they do. It’s the other guys that could make this team title contenders, we will just have to wait to see how things unfold. Remember, any team with Wardell Stephen Curry should not be counted out.
West Coast Hoops 