Since winning a championship in 2022, the Warriors have been a team in clear decline.
Two years ago, the Warriors lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Lakers. Last year, they failed to even make the postseason, getting eliminated in their first Play-In tournament game.
Given that Stephen Curry turned 36 during the offseason, it looked like Golden State’s time as a championship contender was over. The front office made moves to cut a ton of salary, letting Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, which issued in a new era.
A funny thing happened, though. Making the team cheaper ended up creating an even stronger group. The Warriors find themselves tied for the best record in the Western Conference after the first 10 games of the season.
The explanation for Golden State’s turnaround boils down to a few key reasons.
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Four reasons the Warriors are contenders again
The return of “Strength in Numbers”
Steve Kerr’s rallying cry during the Warriors’ dynasty days was the idea of strength in numbers. Sure, the Warriors had star power, but Kerr believed that leaning on contributions from the entire roster would lead to championships.
Golden State hasn’t had the personnel to make that a viable strategy in recent years, but it’s back in full force this season. Kerr has called this the deepest team he’s ever coached, and that’s evidenced by his rotations. Nobody is playing more than 30 minutes per game, and Kerr has 13 players averaging double-digit minutes.
Curry and Draymond Green are still doing their thing. Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney have both experienced resurgent seasons after being in a funk last year. The Warriors have gotten tremendous play from their recent draft picks, and they’ve also hit on their new additions.
Buddy Hield has been a better version of Klay Thompson
Golden State’s most impactful new player has been without a doubt Buddy Hield, who is one of the early front-runners for Sixth Man of the Year. He’s averaging 18.0 points per game off the bench, shooting a scorching 48.8 percent from 3. He’s slid right into Thompson’s role and brought a joy to the team that was missing last year.
While Thompson was still a good shooter last season, he was stuck trying to do too much at times. He would shoot them out of games, such as his dreadful 0-of-10 performance in a 118-94 loss in the Play-In game. Kerr was stuck in an awkward situation, having to remove him from the starting and closing lineups throughout the year.
That problem is erased now with the addition of Hield, who has embraced coming off the bench after he couldn’t find a fit in Philadelphia last season. Hield has always been a terrific scorer, but he’s been unleashed in Golden State because Kerr has figured out how to overcome his shoddy defense.
The Warriors have updated their offensive and defensive schemes
Hield has fit into a new, more aggressive style of defense led by new assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse. The Warriors were 23rd in turnovers forced last season. They’re up to sixth this year because they rank second in deflections per game behind the Thunder.
The Warriors have stocked up on long, athletic guys who can make plays on the ball. They’re sending two defenders on ball screens more often and wreaking havoc that way. They have smart veterans who know how to rotate, and Green is spearheading it all by covering for the ball pressure his other teammates create. It’s led to a defense that has risen from No. 15 last year to No. 3 this season.
The Warriors have also added some new wrinkles to their classic movement-heavy offensive system. Another new assistant, long-time Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, brought some of the blocker-mover actions that helped Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in Portland and used those sets with Curry and Hield. That’s helped Golden State rise from the No. 9 offense last season to No. 4.
Stephen Curry is still that guy
The Warriors’ added depth, both via players and coaches, is a nice story. But none of it matters without Curry. He showed during the tail end of the Olympics that he was still capable of being one of the best players in the world, and that has carried into the regular season.
Curry’s raw stats are down to 22.0 points and 6.3 assists per game, but that’s mostly a result of his minutes dropping to 28.3 per game. Kerr has had the luxury of resting him more this season, which has kept his shooting efficiency sky-high. His 43.5 percent from 3 is the best mark he’s posted since 2018-19. And he’s still hitting huge shots in the clutch, dropping a night-night 3 to seal a win against the Thunder on Sunday.
STEPH SAYS NIGHT NIGHT ? pic.twitter.com/pH8ooQYmzM
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 11, 2024
Curry is still the most dangerous shooter in the game. The Warriors were always going to be good with him. They’re great again because the other guys have shown up behind him. They’ve even managed to hold down the fort when he’s been hurt, going 3-0 while he recovered from a sprained ankle.
This Warriors team is legit, as they showed in beating both the Celtics and Thunder last week. It’s not the same Steph and Klay team that dominated the league for so long, but they’ve figured out a way to grow into a new version that is capable of making some real noise in the playoffs.
