The Golden State Warriors have made some interesting moves this offseason. But they may not be done, according to Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Golden State opened training camp on the BYU-Hawaii campus in Ouha, Hawaii, from October 1 to 4, with several questions and 11 new faces. The good news for the Warriors, for chemistry issues, is that only four of the newcomers are on standard contracts: De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and Lindy Waters III.
Melton, Hield, and Anderson will be heavily relied on to help replace the production of Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, and Dario Saric. The Warriors have been linked to numerous trades this offseason, including Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVine, Paul George, Brandon Ingram, and Lauri Markkanen. However, the Dubs only made one trade, which brought them Hield and Anderson in the six-team Thompson sign-and-trade deal.
“We’re probably as impatient a franchise as you can be right now, given our time horizon and all that,” Dunleavy told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “But there’s a fine line between impatience and undisciplined. I feel good about the discipline that we held this summer and, the roster we built, and the growth from within that we’re going to have. I know everybody is always looking for big headline breaking news and all that, but I really like this team.”
Golden State Warriors Looking For Further Upgrades As Training Camp Opens
Of course, Stephen Curry will lead the Warriors. Curry is coming off a great year, as he appeared in 74 games, the most since 2016-17, and was named the top clutch player in the league and the all-NBA third team. He totaled 26.4 points, drained 4.8 threes, and cut his turnovers to 2.8 a game while compiling 45/40.8/92.3% shooting splits.
Draymond Green is the only other player assured of a starting spot. While Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson-Davis need to continue to grow, the Warriors will count heavily on their big off-season acquisitions. The Warriors seem to like that trio of youngster, but Slater said that Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob are willing to mortgage the future for a title run.
“ We’ve got a lot of good basketball players, and then on top of it, we’ve got most of our assets. We’ve got ways to improve. Does that mean we’re definitely going to do something? No,” Dunleavy said. “We were super aggressive last year around the deadline. Didn’t do a whole lot. You’ve got to have a partner. Making deals in this league can be tough. But the effort and the urgency will always be there.”
As has been the case for the last several years, Golden State’s biggest issues are the size and depth in the frontcourt. Interior scoring, turnovers, getting to the foul line, and keeping opponents off the foul line were also problems for the Warriors. Also, improvement in transition defense is essential for the Dubs, coach Steve Kerr told the media recently.
Our transition defense fell off the map last year. A huge emphasis in camp will be to shore that up. We do have, I think, better personnel this year to become a better defensive team, barring injury and that kind of stuff. … Traditionally we’ve been a top 10 defense. I just want to get back to being really good at that end knowing we can count on our ability to get stops, whatever the ranking is.”
Warriors Training Camp Competition
Golden State is in a better financial position to make a trade if necessary. The Warriors will likely go into the season with 14 players, leaving them $533,659 clear of the first apron. The Dubs are hard-capped at the first apron, meaning they can’t have more than $178.1 million on record at any point this season.
Waters and Gui Santos have fully non-guaranteed deals. Therefore, the Warriors could bring another player on a non-guaranteed veteran minimum deal. If they choose not to do so, Kevin Knox will likely be given an opportunity to earn a job over one of those two players. Knox is the only player currently on an Exhibit 10 deal with a legitimate chance of earning a roster spot.
With several newcomers and some returning youngsters, Golden State expects training camp to be very competitive, with several battles taking place regarding rotational minutes. Steve Kerr told ESPN’s Kendra Andrews he feels that he has 12 to 13 players on his roster who could be in the rotation—a problem he has said he’s had in the past.
Curry (PG) and Green are the only players assured of a starting position. Andrew Wiggins is believed to have a slight edge on Kuminga as the starter at small forward. Therefore, there is expected to be open competition with the first unit at shooting guard and center.
Protecting Warriors Rotation
Warriors Starting Five
PG Stephen Curry: 32 minutes
SG Brandin Podziemski: Started 28 games last season. 28 minutes
SF Andrew Wiggins: 30 minutes
PF Draymond Green: 27 minutes
C Kevon Looney: 20 minutes
Rotation
Jonathan Kuminga: Off the bench, will likely see most of his minutes at PF with limited time at SF and C. 25 minutes
De’Anthony Melton: Probably the main competition for Podziemski’s starting spot. Whoever loses the competition will also serve as Curry’s primary backup. 25 minutes
Buddy Hield: Likely to see time at the 2 and 3. 20 minutes
Kyle Anderson: Will see most of his minutes at power forward. 12 minutes
Trayce Jackson-Davis: TJD is the biggest competition at center for Looney.Startedd 16 contests a season ago. 15 minutes
Others
Moses Moody: 6 minutes
Gary Payton II: Could steal a few minutes from Melton or Hield, though I wouldn’t expect him to play over 50 games.
Lindy Waters III: Emergency situations
Gui Santos: Very sparingly
Warriors Draft Future Assets
First-round picks: Own 2025-2029, 2031. Top-20 protected in 2030 (if falls 21-30 it is Washington’s selection).
Second-round picks: Atlanta’s (2026), Atlanta’s (2028). Own (2029), Own or Minnesota’s (2031)
