Negative signs

Board battling: The Warriors finished last in the league in rebounding differential for the fourth consecutive season, getting beat on the boards by 6.6 a game in 2011-12. They’ve outrebounded opponents in only 23.5 percent of their past 230 games, and have gone 33-21 on those occasions. Newly acquired center Andrew Bogut boasts a career average of 9.3 rebounds per game, but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll single-handedly remedy the problem. Emergency room: Bogut and point guard Stephen Curry each had ankle surgery, and power forward David Lee had surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. All are expected to be completely rehabilitated by training camp, but their durability is a major question. Knowing the Warriors have had players miss more games because of injury or illness than any other NBA team over the past three seasons, there are reasons to worry. Getting defensive: For all of the talk about bringing in a defensive mind-set, coach Mark Jackson got his players to defend only marginally better than past Warrior matadors. They gave up 4.5 fewer points than the season before but actually dropped a spot to 28th in the league as scoring

was down across the NBA. They limited opponents to 45.3 percent shooting from the field, climbing two spots from a season ago and into a tie for 18th. Empty wallet: By taking on more than $23 million for Bogut and Richard Jefferson at the trade deadline, the Warriors used up most of their salary cap space. The cap is expected to stay at about $58 million for the 2012-13 season, and the Warriors have eight contracted players who are owed about $56 million. After they sign a couple of draft picks, they’ll have little more than the midlevel exception to use in filling out the roster. Clutch closer: The three most likely players to handle the ball in lategame situations have struggled during the final five minutes of games within five points. Curry shot 29.4 percent from the floor and had a ratio of four assists to five turnovers in those situations this season. Lee shot 42.2 percent and had a 7-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio, and Klay Thompson was at 30.6 percent and 2-to-1. Someone needs to prove he can create without turning the ball over and make important shots down the stretch.