SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson’s gone, there are starting spots up for grabs, and three new veterans joined the mix.
Heading into training camp, uncertainty is swirling around the Warriors like it rarely has in the past decade. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the puzzle pieces are scattered.
“I’m excited,” Draymond Green said. “It’s a new opportunity, a new challenge. With Klay leaving here, things just look different, it feels different.”
The Warriors are healthy and ready for camp in Hawaii. The group they’re taking might not be the exact one that finishes the season, but they’re confident nonetheless. There are Steph Curry and Green as the pillars. Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga as the young guns. Kevon Looney and Trayce Jackson-Davis competing for center minutes. Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton are the new guys, jockeying for playing time with Moses Moody and Gary Payton II.
Green likened the past 13 years to a band playing the hits; great rock bands often break up when they’re at the top for so long. Doing the same thing over and over again gets tedious. The Warriors staved that sensation off, chasing greatness while not getting bored, but now it’s time to create a different album.
“Now we turn the page,” Green said. “Turning the page doesn’t mean we’re still not competing for the same thing, that’s always the goal, but it’s just going to look a little different now. It’s not going to look the way it looked for the last 13 years or 12 years.”
Any offense with Curry will always have frenetic ball and player movement, but expect some of the Warriors’ long-held system to evolve. New assistant coaches Jerry Stackhouse and Terry Stotts have the chance to blend styles of veteran players, developing young ones and new additions.
The Warriors brought in three veteran free agents after pursuits for star players — Paul George and Lauri Markkanen — fell through. Green lauded general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s patience and likened the additions to the veterans Golden State acquired before the 2022 championship season.
But those players have distinct skills. And after a 46-win season that culminated in a play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings, it seems clear that the Warriors will need to evolve their identity. The way they operate hasn’t changed, more or less, for a decade. This season is as good an opportunity as any to make tweaks.
“I think you get smacked in the face and don’t make the playoffs, that’s all the real message you need,” Curry said. “(It’s) the reminder you need that, again, we have a way of doing things in terms of how we approach practices, games, the level of competition you need to have, but when it comes down to your Xs and Os and the style and all that type of stuff, being open to evolving and pivoting.”
Even the mainstays have acknowledged that things will be different this year. Looney slimmed down and took 400 to 500 3-pointers a day in an effort to extend his range to the point where he can keep defenses honest.
Payton, one of the 2022 offseason additions that provided championship depth, opened his press conference by vowing to stay healthy after working to “bullet-proof everything” this offseason.
Dunleavy and coach Steve Kerr talked up Wiggins, saying the 2022 All-Star is primed for a big bounce-back season. The Warriors plan to feature the small forward more offensively, getting him downhill and possibly more post touches.
Moody, in seemingly perpetual rotational purgatory, worked to quicken the release on his jump shot. Anderson likewise retooled his shooting mechanics to try to return to his 40% 3-point mark from two seasons ago. Kuminga, coming off a major leap last season, wants to become a “complete player” — with or without a contract extension before the Oct. 21 deadline.
A key difference this season, the Warriors hope, is to commit on the defensive end. Prioritizing transition play in particular could return Golden State to the elite defense it rode to a dynasty. With Chris Paul and Thompson last season, the team rarely resembled the “track meet” Melton remembers playing against.
Now, with Melton, a healthy Payton and Anderson, the personnel skews more toward defensive flexibility after the Warriors finished 15th in defensive rating in 2023-24.
“That’s definitely my mentality,” Melton said. “I love defense. I love playing defense. I love getting steals. I love getting stops. I feel like defense wins championships too. It’s always been my mantra. That’s who I am.”
What has the potential to be alarmingly stagnant, though, is Green’s demeanor. Last year, suspensions and ejections limited him to 55 games. He’s so valuable to the team that the Warriors went 14-17 in games Green either missed or didn’t finish due to ejection.
In his first media availability of this season, Green couldn’t help himself from getting into a little squabble with a reporter inquiring about fans’ concerns about his ability to stay out of trouble.
“I think my mindset has helped us do some great things,” Green said as part of a testy back-and-forth. “That’s pretty cool. It’s all about how you spin it. I love how you’re trying to spin it, but it ain’t my spin to it, playa.”
Green and Curry are possibly the only two players guaranteed spots in the Warriors’ starting lineup. Head coach Steve Kerr relishes the chance to make training camp a competition for roles.
“It’s a lot more uncertainty,” Looney said. “When you lose a piece like Klay, and then you add a bunch of new faces, the team is in a different direction.”
The Warriors have depth, and the combinations will work themselves out. But Thompson won’t be a part of it for the first time in more than a decade.
“We’re gonna miss him, but excited to kick his ass pretty soon,” Payton said.
