The Warriors’ five biggest roster questions for the NBA offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
No one in the NBA wants to watch the playoffs from home. Since Steve Kerr arrived, this is a strange world for him and the Warriors when he has a healthy Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Welcome to the new world of Warriors.
Their off-season to-do list is long. Relevant questions must be answered. Some are more difficult to process than others. If we’re being honest, the main unresolved mystery is whether the Warriors can trust Green after a second straight year of season derailment.
Kerr’s emotional four-minute response once again told us what the Warriors have said before: They will live and die by Draymond, or so it seems.
Now that that has been reestablished, what challenges do the Warriors face in a time of so much uncertainty? Here’s your ultimate primer on the five biggest things the Warriors need to address this season.
The Klay situation
Why wait? Those reading this know the main storyline, as the Warriors’ offseason has started earlier than anyone is used to. It’s the future of a 34-year-old future Hall of Famer who has spent his entire career in a Warriors jersey, is a franchise icon and is getting unrestricted free agency at an incredibly interesting time for everyone involved.
While Thompson’s “big ol’ doughnut” of going scoreless on 10 shot attempts in the Warriors’ season-ending loss in Sacramento is still on the tip of Warriors fans’ tongues, replacing him isn’t an easy next man up. scenario.
Thompson played 77 regular season games, his most since missing two straight seasons due to leg injuries. His 268 threes this season were the fourth most in the NBA and tied for the third most of his own career. Many teams could theoretically use a three-point threat like Thompson, whose 38.7 three-point percentage isn’t a waste.
But there’s more to it than just what Klay offers from deep, including what his role would be if he returns to the Warriors.
“I thought Klay really showed in the second half of the year that he was OK with the Sixth Man role, even though we ended up putting him back in the starting line-up,” Kerr said at his end-of-season press conference. “I think this should be an option for the future. I’d rather not play it for 35 minutes.
“There were games down the road, I think the New Orleans game, I think I played him for 38 minutes. We need to be able to play him less, but to do that we honestly need to add more shooting to the squad. We can add more shooting and limit Klay’s minutes. I think he will be much more effective throughout the season.”
Thompson came off the bench for the first time on February 15, playing for Kerr, in a three-point win against the Utah Jazz. In 63 games as a starter, Thompson averaged 17.4 points on 42.5 percent shooting over 30.2 minutes per game and was a 37.7 percent shooter from deep. He averaged 27.4 minutes in 14 games off the bench, but scored 19.8 points on 46.4 percent shooting and made 42.8 percent of his three-pointers.
Contract, role, lifestyle and more. Thompson will take everything into account this offseason. Besides knowing that Thompson’s love for his Bay Area environment is to their advantage, the Warriors need to ask themselves the same questions.
Every Warriors offseason storyline is secondary.
Younger, taller, more athletic
Two questions later, Kerr was asked a follow-up question: If Klay returns in a Sixth Man role, will his replacement already be on the roster?
“It could very well be someone on the roster,” Kerr said. “I think our young guys will continue to get better. We started with Brandin for a while [Podziemski] instead of Klay. So that’s a possibility. Maybe Moses [Moody] ends up in the starting lineup.”
Kerr also added in his response: “Or maybe it’s a trade. This is the NBA, we all know what happens in this league.
As internal options, Podziemski and Moody would make the Warriors’ starting lineup younger and more athletic. As Thompson’s first replacement, Podziemski started 28 games, averaging 9.5 points on 42.9 percent shooting with a 33.7 3-point percentage, 6.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Moody in nine starts 12.6 points on 51.9 percent shooting with a 39.5 3-point percentage. Both bring more defensive value than Thompson at this stage of his career.
Figuring out the Warriors’ next starting shooting guard is just one part of a bigger problem. The Warriors need to get younger, longer and more athletic at every stage of the roster.
“I think in this modern NBA the game is played so fast and we need to be able to play that way,” the Warriors general manager told reporters last week. “We have had difficulty with the transition in both directions this year. Defensively I couldn’t go back, which is a matter of speed, athleticism and effort. When we went the other way, we didn’t create many turnovers and weren’t able to get out of transition and use our athleticism with [Andrew Wiggins] And [Jonathan Kuminga], [Gary Payton II] those guys.
“So we have to solve that, we have to be better in the transition in both directions. And we will try to do that.”
The Warriors were the third-oldest team in the NBA entering the season. They led the league in rebounding, but were also the shortest team in the league. Golden State was the fifth-worst team in the NBA this season and the sixth-worst at stopping transition.
Kuminga-Wiggins question
Of all the internal options the Warriors already have to be younger, taller and more athletic, Kuminga and Wiggins are at the forefront. Golden State may also have to choose between one or the other.
In Kerr’s response to what happens if Thompson returns as a permanent Sixth Man, he opened the door to another discussion.
“Maybe JK shows he can play the 3 next to Draymond and Trayce [Jackson-Davis]said Kerr.
The idea during Kerr’s press conference was that he wants to see Kuminga develop into a 3. Does that mean from the start of next season? Kuminga, Green and Jackson-Davis played just 18 minutes together in the regular season, good for a net rating of -16.9 (90.2 offensive rating and 107.1 defensive rating). Kuminga can’t work alongside those two as a 32.1 percent 3-point shooter.
And Kuminga and Wiggins didn’t work together this season. They played alongside each other for 674 minutes and produced a net rating of minus 0.3 with an offensive rating of 111.9 and a defensive rating of 112.2.
Wiggins and Kuminga will be mentioned in trade rumors over the coming months until their fate is ultimately decided. The Warriors signed Wiggins to a four-year contract extension in mid-October two years ago. By the time the next season rolls around, it feels like Wiggins is still a Warrior, which would be more of a surprise than a guarantee.
Joe Lacob’s wallet
Kuminga is also eligible for an extension this offseason. Warriors owner Joe Lacob has been enamored with Kuminga since before they drafted him No. 7 overall in 2021. Jaden McDaniels’ five-year, $131 million contract is already being tossed around to determine what a Kuminga deal could look like.
One thing is certain when it comes to the Warriors’ finances: Lacob isn’t going to want to continue spending a lot of money on a team that doesn’t even make the playoffs, and barely makes the play-in tournament.
“I think if you have a team that you think can compete for a championship, you do what you need to do financially,” Dunleavy said. “So we will look at everything, we will balance it. It’s hard to say right now in terms of what it’s going to look like and all that, because this is April, this stuff runs through June and July.
“But you know what Joe is like with his willingness to spend that and compete. I don’t think there will be any restrictions, but we will also be careful. I mean, to field a team that can’t make the playoffs like we spent $400 million this year, I wouldn’t recommend.”
None of Chris Paul’s $30 million is guaranteed for next season. Only $3 million is guaranteed on Kevon Looney’s $8 million deal for next season. Payton has a $9.1 million player option and is willing to re-sign his contract with the Warriors. Looney was replaced in the starting lineup and Kerr’s rotation as a whole, and Payton’s injury history continues to hurt both him and the team.
Yes, Thompson’s contract is the biggest question of all. There are also other financial matters to sort out.
Help Wanted
Dunleavy said the quiet part out loud.
“Those guys that are getting older, like Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson – those guys are great guys to go out with,” Dunleavy said when asked about balancing the responsibility of a dynasty while also knowing what’s best is for the success of the franchise. . “They’re still good at basketball. So I think it’s a manageable thing. Is it a challenge, yes, but I enjoy it because it’s unique and I think it’s somewhat achievable, so we’ll see what happens.
The Warriors’ Big Three is one that will keep you down until the final blow turns out the lights. How dimly does the light already flicker? Or is it too heavy to fold back up?
Curry is the last of the three who remains among the league’s elite. Curry had 28 games this season in which he scored at least 30 points. The rest of the Warriors combined for six – four from Thompson, one from Kuminga and one from Wiggins.
The success or demise of this team still rests squarely on Steph’s shoulders. Those are also the shoulders of a 36-year-old who looked gassed and struggled to climb the unforgiving Western Conference standings on a team where no one else strikes fear into the opposition.
Look around you. Turn on the TV and watch a playoff game. These are teams full of stars in their prime, who don’t look back on memories and fool themselves in the mirror.
Seismic changes may be coming. Maybe they should. Maybe developing the next wave of the Warriors, along with a little tinkering, will be enough in the eyes of decision makers.
The former feels much closer than the latter at one of the most compelling intersections the Warriors have faced in the past decade.
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