New Warriors may not be the disaster many expect
It’s possible that no great basketball team ever blew up as suddenly as the Warriors did.
It’s possible no blownup basketball team ever regrouped as suddenly as the Warriors have. Humpty Dumpty sends his compliments.
There are a lot of odd pieces that will have to be twisted, tweaked, wedged and jackhammered into the jigsaw puzzle for the Warriors to open their season as a genuine contender.
But a fullblown rebuild disaster scenario? Nosiree, Bob Myers.
It appears that the Warriors, as has been their MO over the past five years, have reached into their pocket and pulled out another miracle. After a wild run at the discount smorgasbord of available talent, the Warriors have emerged as the NBA’s most interesting team.
Also, a potential contender. Yes, for the NBA championship.
I’m not trying to sell tickets to Chase Center, aka Joe’s Gym. Most of the tickets are gone. So was all the hope, until recent developments.
Wishful thinking? Well, pro sports bookies have no sentiment, and one of them, MyBookie.ag, lists the Warriors No. 5 on the list of most likely champs, at 10to1.
Some sips from the glasshalffull:
Carpe diem: The Warriors gave up a lot for D’Angelo Russell, but if they hoped to compete next season, they had to make a bold and risky move. The cynic would say Joe Lacob was scared to death to open his new gym with a ragtag squad. Another way of looking at it: A trio like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green comes along once in a lifetime, so why squander a couple of prime years of that trio on a tankandrebuild?
Russell, on paper, is not a perfect fit. Neither was Curry or Green when he arrived. Russell is probably a better fit than what some have been saying. He is a catchandshoot guard who can play off the ball, giving the Warriors a threeman rotation at the point: Curry, Green and Russell.
Kerr’s touch: Steve Kerr’s creativity can run amok. Remember when he arrived in 2014 with all his newfangled plans and dreams?
With five seasons of head coaching under his belt, Kerr should be ready for his biggest challenge. Out of necessity, he knows how to work with Don Nelson’s old philosophy: Don’t tell me about sizes and positions, just give me some good basketball players and I’ll figure it out. Kerr has some defensive gaps to plug. It will help if the Warriors can retain Professor D, Ron Adams, who is being courted by the Lakers.
Super Klay: Thompson could be back, well rested and fully recovered from the torn ACL, by late December. His agent is already saying Klay will trim the normal recovery time of 712 months to 57 months. That’s ridiculous, but Thompson is a quietly ridiculous guy.
Thompson’s return will help the defense more than it will help the offense.
Willie freed: Willie CauleyStein is another rabbit pulled out of the Warriors’ hat.
Like DeMarcus Cousins, CauleyStein signed for a lot less than he expected to get, and is motivated to prove his worth and live down a somewhat negative rep.
The difference? WCS is fully healthy, ready from Day 1, and won’t demand a bigger role in the offense, as Cousins did. Also, the Warriors need an athlete at center, a runner and jumper who can shoot a little.
Maybe CauleyStein is just renting himself to the Warriors to goose his market value. If so, so what? He can’t boost his market value unless he shows himself to be a valuable player and a hardworking teammate.
Overdogs gone: With Kevin Durant gone, the Warriors are no longer the NBA’s spoiled child, the team with all the toys money can buy.
It’s not that the Warriors folded under that pressure. On the contrary (see: Rings). But many outsiders saw the Warriors as too talentheavy to be fun, and maybe some of that feeling crept into the team, too.
Promising subs: Swingman Glenn Robinson III and shooting guard Alec Burks are coming off down seasons, but they have proven skills, are young (25 and 27), and should be motivated by the opportunity to play for the Warriors.
Curry factor: Curry has improved as a player and leader every season he has been with the Warriors, and probably every season dating back to when he was 6. This season should be no different. At 31, Curry is in his physical prime, pushed ever upward by his inner fire and by his trainer, Brandon Payne.
Assuming Kerr can devise an antidote to the dreaded boxandone defense that the Raptors threw at Curry in the Finals, we are likely to see the fulloctane Steph, an MVP candidate from Game 1.
The vibe: Sailing into new and uncharted waters should energize the Warriors. Joe’s Gym could be a plus factor, too, if the new fans at Chase can overcome the handicap of wealth to generate some crazy energy.
Party on!