Season should offer plenty of excitement
It has been a long, long time since we’ve seen the Warriors play a meaningful basketball game — more than a year if we’re being honest about the way the Warriors played last season.
But the 2020-21 NBA season is here, with the Warriors tipping off their campaign Tuesday night in Brooklyn against old friend Kevin Durant.
How’s this season going to play out? That’s anyone’s guess. But no matter how the Warriors finish, these are a few things to be excited about all season long: 1. BASKETBALL IS FANTASTIC » Basketball — particularly the best version of it on planet Earth, NBA basketball — is absolutely fantastic. Even preseason games, when no-names with no chance mix with steady NBA players, can be invigorating.
Obviously, the world has not returned back to normal. The empty arenas are a clear sign of that.
But having the full coterie of NBA teams back in action, playing the game we love, is just a bit of the ordinary we can all celebrate.
2. THREES! SO MANY THREES » I’ll admit, this could be a reason to be pessimistic about this year’s Warriors’ team. As college basketball shows, there’s nothing worse than teams chucking up 3-pointer after 3-pointer and clanking 80 percent of them.
But the Warriors are going to live dangerously this year. They’re going to shoot from distance like, you know, the rest of the NBA does now. Whether or not they have the shooters outside of Curry seems like a secondary concern.
The only time the Warriors have led the NBA in 3-pointers attempted was 2015-16, when the team had substitute teacher Luke Walton in charge for 43 games. Golden State put up, on average, 32 3-pointers per game that season.
Last season, that would have been good for 23rd in the NBA.
The Warriors also shot 41 percent from beyond the arc in 2015-16. If they can put up 40-plus 3-pointers per game (they averaged 42 in the preseason) and score at that clip, they’re going to have the best offense in the NBA.
Obviously, scoring at that clip is unlikely given the lack of Klay Thompson on the roster, but they’ll have nights where they are on fire. If you’re someone who feels that the 3-pointer is the new dunk, you’re going to have lots of reasons to tune into Warriors basketball this year.
3. THE WEST IS EVEN MORE COMPETITIVE » The Lakers won the championship. The Clippers remain too talented to fail. Luka Doncic is the MVP favorite in Las Vegas. The Nuggets are wellcoached and have two elite players. The Jazz remain formidable. The Rockets still have James Harden (at least for now). The Blazers can outscore almost anyone in the NBA when it’s Dame Time. And now the Suns have Chris Paul?
The Western Conference has always been brutal, but this year’s competition is next-level.
The Warriors are going to be relentlessly tested. It’s going to be exceptional basketball. And if competition truly brings out the best in top teams, then we’ll find out just how elite the Warriors are in short order.
4. SMILEY » The Warriors seem hellbent on justifying last season’s second-round draft pick, Alen Smailagic. This is the sunk-cost fallacy in action.
But will it be entertaining? Oh, you bet.
Smailagic’s minutes will be must-see TV. He could go out one night and look like a future superstar. He could also turn in a performance that resembles a nature documentary — and he’s not the protagonist.
Maybe I’m too twisted a person, but I’m excited to see it all play out.
5. A DEEPER BENCH » As a friend put it to me this week: last year’s starters are this year’s bench.
It’s not that simple, but he’s not that far off, either.
And that change is a good thing. It better be — last year’s Warriors were the worst team in the NBA.
So the Warriors added Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker to the reserve units,two players who could absolutely be called upon, on occasion, to finish games. Clutch move
In all, the difference between last year’s bench and this year’s bench is night and day. And with depth being so key to success, that could make this season a lot more interesting.
6. JORDAN POOLE’S FURTHER DEVELOPMENT » We saw it at the end of the last regular season, the Warriors’ first-round pick from 2019 is starting to figure it out. In his final 10 games, the Michigan man averaged 14 points per game on 48 percent shooting and averaged nearly five assists.
It’s a small sample size, but it’s intriguing nevertheless. And while there has been a long, long layoff, if Poole can keep that momentum going, the Warriors will have another much-needed playmaker on their squad.
7. KELLY OUBRE’S CHAOS » When Thompson went down for the season, the Warriors wasted no time in acquiring Kelly Oubre. The 25-year-old wing isn’t a Klay replacement, but he is a player who will press issues up and down the court.
And for a Warriors team that is planning on pushing the pace and making chaos the backbone of their defensive strategy, he’s a perfect fit.
He might give up a lot with his aggressiveness, but the preseason showed that he will likely get more than he gives with that attitude. He and Steph Curry seem to have already synched energies — those are two guys who can force an issue — and I’m fascinated to see how Draymond Green vibes with Oubre as well.
No matter what, when Oubre is on the court, things are going to happen.