Curry will be counted on to carry a very heavy load
After a tumultuous offseason, that saw the exit of Kevin Durant to Brooklyn, pen meeting paper on new deals for Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, nine new players joining the roster, and the franchise’s move across the bay to San Francisco, it’s fair to say that the Warriors’ 2019 preseason was expected to be interesting. But this interesting? That, I’m not so sure about.
The Warriors’ preseason, frankly, might have brought about more questions than it did answers.
But we did learn a few things about these Dubs in the exhibition schedule. Let’s recap them all ahead of tonight’s regular-season opener.
THIS TEAM WILL GO AS FAR AS STEPHEN CURRY TAKES THEM >> Yes, you probably could have easily presumed this before the preseason started, but now that we’ve seen these Warriors — the healthy ones, at least — take the court, this truth is unimpeachable.
Curry is going to need to have an MVP-caliber campaign — a prerequisite of which is playing 70plus games — for the Warriors to make the playoffs this year.
Can he do it? Absolutely. Curry was incredible this preseason, dropping 40 points on the Timberwolves last week and averaging 41 points per 36 minutes across four contests.
That needs to be a taste of what’s to come, though.
Because anything less than Curry’s absolute best will likely not be enough for the Warriors to make the playoffs — yes, even with the addition of D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green in tow. There’s just not enough talent on this team. Even with it, the Warriors might not have enough.
And even two weeks on the shelf with an injury could sentence this team to a lottery pick.
Gone are the days when the regular season didn’t matter and Curry could take the night off — either by sitting on the bench or by being deferential to his teammates. Every game will matter for the Warriors this season and Curry will need to come out gunning from the first minute on in all of them if the Warriors are going to win enough of those 82 contests to make the playoffs.
This is how every other team in the NBA has lived for the last five years.
Welcome back to reality, Warriors fans — it’s pretty jarring.
THEY ARE VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS >> The Warriors went from one of the oldest rosters in the NBA last year to one of the youngest in the course of an offseason. Curry, who is six months older than me, is the oldest player on the team.
And with nine new players on the squad — including a prominent one that was added just before training camp started — the Warriors are still in the process of learning how to play with each other.
One surprising note from the preseason on that front: After an offseason full of speculation and conversation — from both inside and outside the facility — about how the Warriors would need to become a more direct, pick-and-roll style team with Russell now in the fold, the Warriors moreor-less ran the same motion offense they ran last year. It seems that the Warriors are asking Russell and the other new Dubs to acclimate to them rather than reinventing themselves to fit what the new players are best at.
It’s probably too early to say this with confidence, but early returns show that Steve Kerr is being more of an idealist than a pragmatist this season. THEY WILL LIKELY BE A BOTTOM-HALF OF THE NBA DEFENSE >> The Warriors’ interior defense was abysmal all preseason because of the absence of Cauley-Stein and, in particular, Looney.
Even with those guys playing, it might still be all sorts of bad.
But the bigger concern for the Warriors should be the stunning dearth of perimeter defenders on this team. This team appears to lack a single wing who can lock-down 20-plus feet from the basket.
The good news is that perimeter defense is not the most important thing in the NBA these days...
Combine that with the fact that the Warriors are likely to have one of the worst defensive backcourts in the NBA this season — Curry is average at best and Russell, despite an enviable wingspan, is a massive defensive liability — and you can easily see the Warriors’ problem.
On the plus side: Warriors centers should have plenty of opportunities for blocked shots this season! SHOOTING — YES, SHOOTING THIS TEAM >> Another possible issue for the Warriors is 3-point shooting outside of Curry and Russell.
Is Jordan Poole — who shot without remorse this preseason — really the No. 3 option?
Or is it Alec Burks, who missed the whole preseason with an ankle sprain?
Are either of those guys good enough to keep the Warriors up in a league where the 3 ball is king? Is Glenn Robinson III going to make multiple 3-pointers? Draymond Green? Kevon Looney?
The Warriors are going to attempt close to 40 3-pointers every night this season. Can they make 15 a game — a solid 37 percent clip?
GLENN ROBINSON III SHOULD BE SERVICEABLE >> Robinson was only offered a contract by one team other than the Warriors this past offseason.
On Thursday, he’ll start at small forward for the defending Western Conference champions.
In a negative sense, GRIII playing such a prominent role is a testament to the Warriors’ lack of depth — particularly at the wing position. But looking at the bright side, Robinson played well this preseason and showed that he is a serviceable NBA player.
Maybe Robinson — who will turn 26 in January — can turn into a bonafide 3-and-D wing for the Warriors. Perhaps he merely needed the right system to reach his potential.
But for the time being, he’ll do.
THE WARRIORS HAVE NOT IMMEDIATELY TAKEN TO CHASE CENTER >> The Warriors’ new arena is impressive and beautiful, but it’s no Oracle Arena yet. We’ll see if things change once the games start to count, but, truth be told, there hasn’t been much of an atmosphere in the preseason.
The difference has been so jarring that Curry called on fans to up their game after Friday’s contest.
“It still has a new car smell,” Curry said of Chase Center. “Ten years in one spot is not something you can just turn the page on. I can shoot in any gym, but it’s still weird.”
“You can have the nicest building in the world, but you want that soul and that spirit and what’s made our fan base what it is. That part I’m excited to see.”