Golden State Warriors: 3 big questions heading into 2018-19 NBA season

1. What’s the state of the wing?

Most of what we know about basketball tells us that if Curry and Durant are still themselves, Golden State will be totally fine. If the team can properly utilize Cousins, it will be unbeatable.

And yet, this supposedly unbeatable team suddenly became extremely beatable when it lost one piece last May. Not Curry or Durant, or even Green or Klay Thompson. The 34-year-old Andre Iguodala got hurt in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, and the Warriors’ season nearly ended.

Iguodala is not the player he once was (and even prime Iguodala was never a star to the level of the Big 4), but he is a crucial piece. He’s still the team’s second-best defender behind Green, and provides a calm in the half-court offense that often escapes the superstars when left to their own devices.

He will also be 35 by next spring. He could decline or get hurt again. So, too, could the even-more-important wings ahead of him, or the almost-as-important wing behind him in Shaun Livingston. We won’t know with certainty where these guys are at physically until the situation calls for them to step up, but we will know more than we do now.

We will also know about the team’s emergency options. Last year, Nick Young‘s performance, Patrick McCaw‘s health and Quinn Cook‘s inherent deficiencies accentuated the impact of Iguodala’s absence.

First round pick Jacob Evans is supposed to help remedy the situation. He’s a bit of an Iguodala clone, at least in theory. McCaw is the same, though he has not officially re-signed. Unlike the vets, neither youngster would be wise to take it easy this season. Therefore, we should get a solid read on what Golden State has waiting in the wings — even if it is strictly for insurance purposes.

For an historically top-heavy team, contingencies matter more than anything.