Five reasons Warriors can compete for title this season
The Warriors are coming off a down season that they hope to cement as an outlier. Golden State has been consistent in its stated intention to return to contention in 2020-21, and Klay Thompson's season-ending injury hasn't changed that. It's a new group and the Warriors have added several new pieces, but they still have the heart and pedigree of a champion.Here are five reasons why the Warriors can contend for the title this season:
This has almost always been the case in the NBA, and it's especially true now: With very limited exceptions, you can't compete for the title without a superstar.
The Warriors check that box with the only unanimous MVP in league history. Steph Curry remains on the shortlist of the very best players in the league, and without his fellow Splash Brother beside him, Curry will be tasked with carrying as large of an offensive load as he ever has. That was supposed to be the case last season, but Curry's supporting cast then couldn't sniff the one he has now. The entire roster is constructed in such a way that Curry will constantly be in the spotlight, and he has shown a penchant for delivering in those situations throughout his career. The Warriors need Curry to be better than great, but that's who he is. He'll keep Golden State in the title chase, and in doing so, might just add a third MVP trophy, too.
When the season tips off on Dec. 22, it will have been more than nine months since the Warriors last played in an NBA game. And unlike the vast majority of the other teams in the league, they weren't invited to the Orlando bubble. The result is a situation in which Golden State should have an advantage over many of its counterparts. While there's certainly a chance that the Warriors will be a bit rusty coming off the longest offseason in NBA history, several of their peers -- including the ones most likely to compete for the championship -- just had the shortest one ever.
The Warriors are more than well-rested. In fact, it wouldn't come as a shock if veterans like Curry and Draymond Green were feeling as good as they ever have. Meanwhile, a large portion of their counterparts inevitably will enter the season without completely full tanks. Among the teams most likely to contend, one would have to think the Warriors are among the least likely to sputter out.
The Warriors are coming off their worst winning percentage in two decades. On the heels of five straight trips to the Finals, everything that could have gone wrong for Golden State did. Klay Thompson missed the season with a torn ACL, Curry was limited to only five games due to a broken hand and Green simply wasn't himself while surrounding by multiple journeymen and G League call-ups. And on the Warriors' way to a last-place finish, there was no shortage of swipes being taken at them.
Well, the Warriors haven't forgotten about that. They heard it all, and the intend to make the rest of the league pay for it in the season ahead.
The Warriors were an incredible offensive team throughout their dynastic run, but they were always an above-average defensive team, too. That obviously was a different group than the one Golden State will have in the season ahead, but it has the potential to be extremely good on the defensive end, as well.
Draymond Green remains one of the very best defenders in the league, even if he didn't show it last season. Per usual, he'll captain the defense, but this time around, he has got some very interesting tools to work with. In James Wiseman, the Warriors arguably have their best rim protector in decades. In Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre, Golden State has two extremely athletic wings with tremendous length. Free-agent signee Brad Wanamaker is a proficient defender who can guard multiple positions, as is Kent Bazemore. Losing Thompson obviously hurts, but the Warriors have the potential to be a dominant defensive team that uses its supreme length to disrupt shooters and passing lanes. They'll need to be an above-average defensive team to contend for the title, and they certainly have the components to become one.
Wiseman, 19, played three games in college. Wiggins, 25, played in 12 games with the Warriors after arriving in a mid-season trade, but none of them were alongside both Curry and Green. Oubre has improved every season of his career, but there's still plenty of room to grow.
What do they all have in common? Well, for starters, they're all very young. On top of that, they each have a long way to go to reach their respective ceilings. And, finally, in the season ahead, they'll all be surrounded by the best collection of talent they've ever played with.
We generally know what to expect out of Curry and Green. But many of the other players expected to play considerable roles for Golden State are relative unknowns. For Wiseman, Wiggins and Oubre in particular, they all have massive potential left to tap into. And if they do so while exposed to the talents of their supporting cast, the Warriors will have one of the best rosters in the league.
