The Golden State Warriors went through one of the biggest changes in recent franchise history this offseason; losing Klay Thompson. The Splash Brother, who helped build the Warriors dynasty over the past decade, joined the Dallas Mavericks, leaving a gaping hole in the squad.
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Losing a five-time All-Star would cripple any team, but the latest reports from this NBA Insider say otherwise.
Thompson was an integral part of the Warriors offense since the start. His skills complemented Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on the floor, which meant Golden State had to find a viable replacement to stay competitive in the West before the season started.
Now, as per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, the Warriors are projected to be in the top four teams in a hardened Western Conference.
“The Warriors believe they improved this summer, team sources emphasized, basing that partially on internal number models that gave a positive-value thumbs-up to the additions of Melton, Anderson, and Hield. A few analytics-driven employees from around the league agree. One rival’s metric model had Golden State fourth in the conference.”
The Golden State Warriors organization reportedly believes they have improved their team this summer, per @anthonyVslater
“The Warriors believe they improved this summer, team sources emphasized, basing that partially on internal number models that gave a positive-value… pic.twitter.com/4UDuDJO3Re
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 15, 2024
At first glance, losing household names like Klay and even Chris Paul may seem as if Golden State fumbled big time in the offseason. However, the Warriors front office replaced two aging stars slowly losing their step while creating much-needed cap space.
In order to fill the void, the team acquired proven veterans along with some young players on two-way contracts. The Warriors brought in Buddy Hield, D’Anthony Melton, and Kyle Anderson.
Hield fills the spot Thompson left to quite an extent, while Melton can back up both the one and two spots for Hield and Curry. As for Anderson, his unorthodox movement on the floor has baffled teams since the start and fits perfectly with the squad.
The Warriors went ahead and replaced older veterans with younger guys on the roster. This move ended up boosting their internal number models for those number-crunching analytic experts around the league.
Add Curry’s Clutch Player of the Year season and one can see how it has ended up projecting the Warriors among the West’s top four squads next season.
Steve Kerr’s experiments with young rookies ended up paying off last season. Players like Brandin Podziemski and Trayce-Jackson Davis performed exceptionally well. And that is why the team went in the same direction, adding four players on two-way contracts.
Numbers and analytics may project the Warriors as a top team in the West. But with others improving around them, will these projections hold up? Or will teams like the Rockets and Grizzlies make their presence felt too?
