Golden State Warriors: 5 goals for the 2021-22 regular season

Goals for the Golden State Warriors: 3. Playing Klay Thompson for at least half of the team’s games

Not long ago, the Warriors made five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, capturing three championships during the historic run. But ever since their last appearance in 2019, a series loss to the Toronto Raptors, the team has fallen off drastically.

The main reason for Golden State’s decline is the absence of Klay Thompson, their two-time All-NBA shooting guard and future Hall-of-Famer. Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the close-out Game 6 against the Raptors, ruling him out for the entire 2019-20 regular season. One year later on Draft Night, a fully-recovered Thompson then suffered a torn Achilles tendon during a practice, ruling him out for the second straight season and giving an unclear timeline on his return.

His brutal stretch of injuries has forced him to miss out on over two years of NBA games and unfortunately caused the Warriors to slide. His absence led to the sudden signing of D’Angelo Russell, an extended rest for Curry, a mid-season trade for Andrew Wiggins, the desperation snagging of Kelly Oubre Jr. and above all, two straight seasons without a playoff berth.

According to Stadium’s NBA Insider Shams Charania, Klay is expected to return to full practice within a month and has his sights set on a return to games in late December or early January. It’s hard to predict how effective he will be after two major leg injuries, and unlikely he’ll be able to perform to the same level at which he left off, averaging 21.5 points per game with shooting splits of 46.7-40.2-81.6.

For the Warriors to avoid the play-in tournament and have a realistic chance at winning the NBA title, they’ll need Klay Thompson to avoid any major setbacks, allowing him to play for at least half of the team’s games.

Steve Kerr and his coaching staff have done a tremendous job developing talent to make up for his absence, molding spot-up shooters, some off-the-dribble scoring and some tough perimeter defenders. But there’s still nobody on the roster who contributes in the way Thompson does, with lightning-quick shooting off screens, microwave outside scoring, and harassing on-ball defense.

Even if Thompson doesn’t perform at the same level, on either end of the court, his presence on offense and strength on defense will still impact games. It’s important for him to stay healthy in the second half of the year so he can build a rhythm with his shooting, become comfortable playing heavy minutes again and find synergy in the closing lineup as the Warriors head into the postseason.

Klay playing at least half of the team’s games this year makes Golden State a legitimate threat to come out of the Western Conference. He helps his teammates with shooting efficiency, defensive switching, and crunch-time composure.