SAN FRANCISCO – Even though the Warriors failed to land either of their top offseason targets, first Paul George and then Lauri Markkanen, neither Stephen Curry nor Draymond Green seem dissatisfied with the team’s backup plan.
The moves made by Golden State’s front office – adding veterans Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton – are reminiscent of moves made in the summer of 2021.
“I think new additions were the real reason we won a championship in 2022,” Green said Monday at Media Day. “The signing of Otto Porter, the signing of Nemanja Bjelica, the signing of Gary Payton II, those new additions are what took us from a borderline Play-in team to a championship team.”
The year before Porter, Bjelica and Payton arrived, the Warriors endured an unsatisfying season, finishing ninth in the Western Conference with 39-33 record. With those three aboard and making significant contributions, Golden State nabbed a No. 3 with a 53-29 record before rolling through the postseason, defeating the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
The average age of Porter, Bjelica and Payton when they became Warriors: 29.7 years. The average age of Anderson, Hield and Melton: 29.4.
“It is similar for sure,” Curry said. “That's a good comparison, guys that have been around the league in different situations. I think (they) fit style we try to play, even though we do need to evolve and have a different look on offense and defense.”
The Warriors' new additions remind Steph of the players the team added in the offseason before their 2022 championship run 👀 pic.twitter.com/o8qUSOncVy
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) September 30, 2024
Bjelica was a stretch-5 that met the desires of coach Steve Kerr. Porter was a stretch-4 who could play some center and offered a strong rebounding alternative to Kevon Looney, then the team’s starting center. GP2 is a game-changer on defense, using his energy and disruptive tendencies to tilt the court in favor of the Warriors.
Their presence dramatically improved the quality of Golden State’s bench, with Porter and Payton playing essential roles in the postseason.
“I always tell people . . . championships are won 6 through 10,” Green said, referring to crucial non-starters. “Championships aren't won 1 through 5. We see great 1 through 5s all the time, and everybody in the world is like, ‘Uh-oh, watch out for that team, that starting five.’ How are you going to beat that team?’
“You (go) against that team, and they lose in the first round, and you realize, oh, they ain't that good. That's because they were 1 to 5 dominant. The teams that you see that have a really good 1 to 5 but their 6 through 10 are strong, those are the teams that are going to compete for championships.”
To illustrate his contention about the quality of the supporting cast, Green cited examples from the defending champion Boston Celtics. Derrick White and Al Horford were acquired to be rotation players but wound up as indispensable members. White entered the starting lineup last season and became a fixture. Horford stepped in for an injured Kristaps Porzingis and started the last 15 games of the postseason.
Kerr has made it clear that training camp in Hawaii will be competitive, with only Curry and Green locked in as starters. Andrew Wiggins is a virtual certainty, but he needs a strong preseason to retain it.
After that, it’s every man finding his place. The young core four – Brandin Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody – and the new vets all will have a chance to make an imprint.
“When I look at the new additions on this team, they're proven guys, guys that's respected around this league, guys that you know what they're going to bring every night,” Green said. “Last time we added guys like that, we did what we love to do.”
Which means the new vets won’t know their projected game-day status this week and probably not next week, but all three have deep experience as starters and reserves.
What Anderson, Hield and Melton know for sure is that they are needed. That the Golden State roster, as currently constituted, can’t consider themselves dark-horse contenders without them.
