Curry is better than ever, but how can team improve?
While examining what went right, what went wrong and the biggest offseason questions surrounding the Warriors, we turn our attention to Stephen Curry.
Curry put up numbers comparable to his unanimous-MVP season and came within two players of being named the league’s MVP.
What went right
A lot of virtual and, in the case of this publication, very real ink has been spilled on Curry’s scoring exploits this past season. How he averaged a career-high 32 points during his age-32 season, including 37.2
points during Golden State’s 15-5 sprint to the play-in tournament. How he won the second scoring title of his career after winning his first during his unanimous MVP season in 2016. And how added muscle, core strength and years of logged experience contributed to a version of Curry better than ever.
Of course, the 3-point shooting was there. He made 42% of his career-high 12.7 attempts per game. He took 80 more 3-pointers than any other player in the league and made 55 more of them. As the NBA trends
toward higher volume and efficiency of 3-point shooting, Curry has remained ahead of the pace by a comfortable margin (Curry’s percentage from deep was nearly six percentage points better than the best-ever league-wide average of 36.7%).
But what sets this version of Curry apart from previous models is how he scored efficiently against defenses committed to taking away his shots. With Klay Thompson sidelined, Kevin Durant in Brooklyn and Draymond Green reluctant to shoot, the Warriors relied on Curry more than ever. His usage rate of 33.1% is the highest of his career by a wide margin — just a hair lower than Michael Jordan (33.3%) in his final Bulls season in 1998.
Like those Bulls relied on Jordan, the Warriors relied on Curry. His 1.13 points per possession on isolation attempts ranked in the 91st percentile in the league, and he ran the pick-and-roll at the highest rate (27.8% of his possessions) and efficiency (1.13 points per chance) of his career.
But the most glaring improvement is how Curry perfected his
floater game. Curry shot 53.2% from 3-10 feet this season. His previous high, according to Basketball-Reference, was 48.8% and his career average is 43.2%. It was here where Curry often went to his floater — a tricky shot that requires a high level of core stability and touch.
At 33, Curry has successfully built himself into one of the most efficient scorers at every level of the floor. The Warriors need him to keep it up if they are to return to the playoffs next season.
What went wrong
What went wrong in Curry’s season was largely out of his control: A tailbone injury, later revealed to be a hairline fracture, sidelined him for five games in April. Golden State went 1-4 during that stretch. If Curry had not gotten hurt, the Warriors may have avoided the play-in tournament altogether and made the playoffs.
Instead, Curry’s all-time campaign was squandered. Unable to bounce back from a last-second loss to the Lakers, Golden State fell to the Grizzlies in the final play-in game to miss the playoffs for the second straight season. But if the Warriors can take anything away from the 2020-21 season, it’s that Curry is still squarely in his prime, and they must do all they can to surround him with the talent he needs to return to contention.
BIGGEST OFFSEASON QUESTION: WHAT WILL HE ADD TO HIS GAME THIS SUMMER?>>
The Warriors will get Thompson back, Green is being encouraged to score more and Curry will get back into the lab. What will he and his longtime trainer, Brandon Payne, come up with? The Warriors may lean more into pick-and-roll next season, especially if young center James Wiseman plays a prominent role.
Curry may also continue to stretch the limits of his game by building his endurance and taking more 3-pointers than ever. Today, as teams continue to take more and more 3-pointers, why shouldn’t he shoot 15 per game? If anyone can do it efficiently, it’s him.
Whatever he does, the Warriors will need to surround him with the proper help: Two-way players adept at playmaking and defending. In other words, guys who can get Curry the ball and get the ball back for the Warriors. Even as Curry refines his game with age, the formula has never changed. This past season proved that, and there’s no reason for Golden State’s front office to reinvent the wheel now.