For the first time since the 2010-2011, the Golden State Warriors are without Klay Thompson, who joined the Dallas Mavericks during the offseason. Time had run out for Thompson in the Bay, as his struggles in the playoffs since 2023 became too much for the team to handle, and he needed to revitalize his career. Meanwhile, his former backcourt partner Steph Curry signed a one-year extension with the Warriors, challenging them to put the right personnel around him so they could contend for a title. Ahead of the new season, Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted that the team has improved on an important area since Thompson left.
“What I like about this team, even though we lost Klay, we have more shooting depth,” Kerr said, via an interview with 95.7 The Game on X, formerly Twitter. “We have more guys that can step in and make threes one night to the next.”
Warriors stick with the formula
Thanks to Klay Thompson and Steph Curry, the Warriors have won four NBA titles and proved that jump-shooting teams can win a championship, contrary to Charles Barkley's long-held sentiment.
Moreover, Steve Kerr maximized the Warriors roster to complement his main shooters, filling the lineup with two-way players who can handle the ball, pass, shoot, and defend. For instance, Draymond Green anchored the defense and set the table through intelligent screens for the Splash Brothers on offense.
However, the Splash Brothers' incredible shooting ability masked this versatility–they weren't just shooting the leather off the ball every night, but also moved the ball and defended at a high level.
Now that Klay Thompson has joined the Mavericks, though, the Warriors remaining offensive players will need to up their shot percentage and volume to replicate Thompson's production in the aggregate.
For instance, without Klay, Andrew Wiggins must shoot more than 1.4 threes a game next season. Likewise, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody should also shoot more to warrant the front office's refusal to trade them for Lauri Markkanen or Paul George.
In the offseason, the Warriors also added Buddy Hield, who's certainly not afraid to let it fly. Meanwhile, Kyle Anderson isn't a shooter, but his basketball IQ on both sides of the ball should complement Draymond and keep the team flying around.
Of course, if Kerr's vision for this iteration of the Warriors pans out, they'll be a nuisance for other teams, since they'll have to choose whether to let the other players shoot or to let Steph Curry drop bombs on them all game long.
They're not the two-way juggernaut they used to be, so they'll need to rely on their offense to carry them most nights. However, without their defense, one cold stretch in the regular season could spell the difference between the playoffs and an early vacation.
