The Golden State Warriors are fresh off an NBA finals loss against Toronto. The Warriors were also 1st in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record. Surely, they are going to continue that amount of excellence into this season right? WRONG! Let’s get negative first, I’ve been waiting for the Warriors demise for a while now, especially after 5 years of being in the finals straight. It’s not even the Warriors themselves, I love Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, but GOD, THE FANS ARE HORRIBLE. It’s time for them to be humble unless the bandwagoners already switched their team to the Lakers. But why are the Warriors not going to win the championship? It has to do A LOT with their offseason.
Key Losses
There’s a LOT of key losses they sustained, including Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston retired, Quinn Cook, Jordan Bell, Demarcus Cousins and traded away Kevin Durant. WOW. That is A LOT. I keep trying to tell Warriors fans that you need a bench to win games, most importantly, a championship. That’s 4 key guys they lost on their bench, they lost Kevin mother-trucking Durant, and Demarcus Cousins, which on paper is a big deal, but he was pretty irrelevant for the Warriors. I’m gonna consider Klay Thompson a loss as well, it’s been stated that he is out till the All-Star break AT LEAST, due to a torn ACL. Even if he cam back that soon, that just doesn’t seem right, usually ACL tears are 6 months to 9 months recovery time after the surgery. That’s at least December to March. This doesn’t include practice and full-on contact drills. He should be out till the playoffs if not the whole year.
Key Additions
I will say for the Golden State Warriors to lose so much, they did have a nice attempt to save face with some talent they acquired. Hell, they acquired De’Angelo Russell with a trade with the Nets when Kevin Durant could have walked and not do anything for the Warriors. They also acquired Willie Cauley-Stein, Omari Spellman, and Alec Burks. Obviously, the cons outweigh the pros, but this still isn’t a bad squad.
Projected Lineup
PG: Steph Curry, Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III
SG: De’Angelo Russell, Jordan Poole
SF: Omari Spellman, Marquese Chriss
PF: Draymond Green, Alfonzo McKinnie
C: Willie Cauley-Stein, Kevin Looney
Lineup Analysis
Notice that I did omit Klay Thompson because there’s not a clear timetable for him. It’s better to see what they have now than what they could have later. Their starting lineup is still great The backcourt of Steph and DLo will on ANYONE. However, they can not defend for their life. They’ll be looking to their frontcourt to try to make up for their defending. Draymond is going to be much more valuable, even if he is overrated, now that KD is gone. He was almost nonexistent when on the floor with KD. Their bench leaves much to be desired. Other than Kevin Looney, who do they really have that they can look to score for them? Alec Burks? Nah that’s not going to do it.
Prediction
I’m not high on this Warriors squad, not at all. I think this team is a 6th seed team AT BEST. I personally have them at the 7th seed myself. Their starting lineup is good enough to make the playoffs, but only barely. Also, they’ll be looking at a first-round exit against one of the juggernauts that are the Clippers, the Jazz, the Nuggets, the Lakers, hell even the Rockets. The Warriors dynasty is over, at least for now, maybe when Klay comes back next year, they’ll be back to their herculean form. But not this year, sorry not sorry Warriors fans.
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