Last Season: 39-33, 9th in Western Conference
After a complete disaster of a year in 2019-20, last year was about a return to normalcy even as the team competed without Klay Thompson for the second year in a row. This summer the team could have pushed in its chips to try and acquire a star, those chips including two lottery picks and last year’s No. 2 overall pick in James Wiseman.
Instead, the Warriors are trying to build for the present and the future, a nice-sounding idea that wobbles when pressed too hard. They did sign veterans like Andre Iguodala (welcome back!), Otto Porter Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica, but they also drafted both of those lottery picks and are trusting Jordan Poole as both Thompson’s replacement in the starting lineup and Stephen Curry’s backup at point guard. If their embrace of young players as part of the plan doesn’t help them win now, it will be a tough pill for veteran stars like Curry and Draymond Green to swallow.
The Warriors’ goal is to be firmly in the playoff field when Thompson comes back, whether that is December or January, to ease him in and have this rotation sharp come the postseason. Fully healthy, even with multiple youngsters on board, this is a team that could legitimately win another title if every came together.
Key Offseason Move: Adding two lottery picks. Jonathan Kuminga is raw but extremely talented, and hasn’t yet turned 19 (he does this week). He could be the team’s long-term answer at power forward if he puts everything together. Moses Moody went at No. 14 and he is a quintessential 3-and-D role player, and could work his way into the rotation mix sooner rather than later.