“How Good Are Steph Curry and Draymond Going to Be?”: ESPN Insider Claims Warriors’ 2024–25 Season Hinges on Key Question

The Warriors had an atrocious 2023-24 season and the fallout culminated in Klay Thompson’s exit, which broke up a core of the guard, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green who won four championships together. Many expected the team to add a superstar-level player to fill the void caused by his departure. However, the front office has failed to make any significant, which Tim Bontemps believes has put Curry and Green under immense pressure.

On the Hoops Collective podcast, the insider and Tim MacMahon created a tier list for teams in the Western Conference. They placed the Warriors in the “Playoffs Teams” bracket, a tier below “Conference Winners.”

MacMahon pointed out that Green would need to avoid suspensions for his team to stand a chance of improving on their disappointing 10th-place finish. The veteran forward missed 27 games last season, 17 through suspensions. The Warriors lost 14 games and won just 13 in his absence. Meanwhile, they won 33 and lost 22 when he was available.

MacMahon noted that the team did not sign a star to replace Thompson but improved the squad depth by adding Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and De’Anthony Melton. However, he believes that young stars, Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga, hold the key to the Warriors’ fate in the upcoming season. MacMahon told Bontemps,

“If Draymond manages to not get himself suspended, the record with Draymond on the floor versus not is a pretty drastic difference. They lost Klay Thompson but they definitely added depth this summer. They are counting on Brandin Podzemski, to make a leap in his second season.”

Bontemps concurred with McMahon’s take. However, he believes it’s the veterans who’ll decide how far the Warriors go. He said,

“I think they got better this summer. The question is how good are Steph and Draymond gonna be? That’s the whole thing, they got deeper, I think they got better overall.”

The Warriors’ roster is a mishmash of players on the opposite ends of their careers. They have superstars like Curry and Green who presumably do not have much time left at the top, and young players like Podziemski and Kuminga ascending and becoming key figures, but not ready to carry a team’s title aspirations.

However, they still have to figure out a way to co-exist and help the franchise finish significantly higher than 10th like they did last season.