Golden State
Warriors ROSTER
5-0 • 1st in WESTERN CONFERENCE
| NAME | POS | AGE | SALARY | HT | WT | COLLEGE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #22 | AndrewWiggins | F | 29 | $26,276,786 | 6' 7" | 197 lbs | KANSAS | |
| #2 | BrandinPodziemski | G | 21 | $3,519,960 | 6' 4" | 205 lbs | SANTA CLARA | |
| #7 | BuddyHield | G | 31 | $8,780,488 | 6' 4" | 220 lbs | OKLAHOMA | |
| #8 | De'AnthonyMelton | G | 26 | $12,822,000 | 6' 3" | 200 lbs | USC | |
| #23 | DraymondGreen | F | 34 | $24,107,143 | 6' 6" | 230 lbs | MICHIGAN STATE | |
| #0 | Gary PaytonPayton | G | 31 | $9,130,000 | 6' 2" | 195 lbs | OREGON STATE | |
| #15 | GuiSantos | F | 22 | $1,891,857 | 6' 6" | 185 lbs | N/A | |
| #00 | JonathanKuminga | F | 22 | $7,636,307 | 6' 7" | 225 lbs | N/A | |
| #31 | KevinKnox | F | 25 | N/A | 6' 7" | 215 lbs | KENTUCKY | |
| #5 | KevonLooney | C-F | 28 | $8,000,000 | 6' 9" | 222 lbs | UCLA | |
| #1 | KyleAnderson | F | 31 | $8,780,488 | 6' 9" | 230 lbs | UCLA | |
| #43 | Lindy WatersWaters | F | 27 | $2,196,970 | 6' 6" | 210 lbs | OKLAHOMA STATE | |
| #4 | MosesMoody | G | 22 | $5,803,269 | 6' 5" | 211 lbs | ARKANSAS | |
| #61 | PatSpencer | G | 28 | N/A | 6' 3" | 205 lbs | NORTHWESTERN | |
| #30 | StephenCurry | G | 36 | $55,761,216 | 6' 2" | 185 lbs | DAVIDSON | |
| #32 | TrayceJackson-Davis | F | 24 | $1,891,857 | 6' 9" | 245 lbs | INDIANA |
Current Warriors Roster Status
The Golden State Warriors were the worst team in the league last season. They finished with a 15-50 record, and clearly, the Dubs want to return to their winning ways this season.
The Warriors suffered a terrible blow prior to the start of the 2020-21 campaign, with Klay Thompson suffering a season-ending Achilles tear. This forced the hand of Golden State to try and find a replacement for the All-Star two guard, which came in the form of Kelly Oubre Jr. The Dubs sent two future draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the 25-year-old small forward.
Another key addition for the Warriors was second overall pick James Wiseman. The 7-foot center provides Golden State with a more conventional center and coach Steve Kerr will insert the 19-year-old to the starting lineup immediately.
Along with Wiseman, the Warriors will also field Stephen Curry, Oubre, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green as the squad's starting lineup.
Golden State also lost a number of guys during the offseason in Dragan Bender (free agent), Ky Bowman (waived), and Juan Toscano-Anderson (waived). They did bring in a couple of fresh faces via free agency in Kent Bazemore and Brad Wanamaker.
This is no longer the dynasty Warriors that dominated the league over the past few years, but it would be foolish to count out the Dubs this season. After all, they still have the best shooter of all time in their lineup, and that will always give them a fighting chance.
golden state warriors Team Analysis
Offense
—By virtue of being the league's worst team this past season, the Warriors' stats were very pitiful. They scored the third-least number of points per game (106.3) in 2019-20, shot 43.8 percent from the field (second worst), were bottom five in every 3-point category—made, attempted, and percentage—while converting in the top 10 in free throws and free-throw percentage. Additionally, the Dubs turned the ball over the 11th-most times last year.
In advanced metrics, the Warriors had the worst offensive efficiency in the NBA (104.4) but the best assist percentage. They shot the worst effective field-goal percentage (49.7) and the third-worst True Shooting percentage (54.0). Golden State also landed smack-dab in the middle of the pack in pace.
Most of that is irrelevant, however, with Curry and Thompson returning from injuries. The Warriors, under Steve Kerr, rely on plenty of off-ball movement and screens to free up their talented shooters in the Splash Bros. Additionally, power forward/small-ball center Draymond Green is a talented passer for his position, and he can thrive in mismatches handling the ball or finding shooters as the roll man catching passes off the pick-and-roll.
Curry uses his unlimited range as a threat to find the paint should defenders bite on stopping him from pulling up from deep, too. Since his first MVP season in 2014-15, Curry has shot 67.1 percent from inside three feet of the basket, only 19.2 percent of his field goals attempted, but the second most targets on the floor other than from 3.
Before last season, the Warriors were traditionally one of the better teams in pace, too, as they were top 10 in the NBA and the best team in their made shots coming from assists the past three years before their 15-win campaign in 2019-20.
Defense
—Again, because of their terrible past season, the Warriors gave up the seventh-worst (worst being bad for Golden State) opponent field-goal percentage (47.6) and the third-most made 3-pointers per game to opponents (13.5), although the two teams worse than them both made the playoffs. Opponents shot a league-best 38.9 percent from deep against the Warriors and assisted for the second-highest (tied) number of dishes per game.
The Warriors were not good at crashing the glass last season, possessing the fifth-worst defensive rebounds per game and in the bottom 10 in defensive rebounding percentage (72.2). They were also in the top 10 in steals per game and possessed the 11th-worst blocks per game. Opponents scored 18.0 points per game off of turnovers against the Warriors, 15.0 points per game on the fast break, and opponents scored the 11th-most points in the paint per game (48.8).
In advanced metrics, the Warriors had the fifth-worst defensive efficiency in the NBA last year at 113.0, something that needs tightening up next year. Further, opponents shot a 55.3 effective field-goal percentage—the third-worst mark for the Warriors, but Golden State did force the sixth-best opponent turnover percentage at 15.4.
Draymond Green, a one-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, is one of the most clever and versatile defenders in the league who can guard all five positions. Green acts like a quarterback reading the blitz in the halfcourt for the Warriors, calling out screens and switches with his teammates to find better matchups.
Additionally, Thompson is one of the better man-on-man defenders and, in the past, has taken up the defensive assignment of guarding the better backcourt guard, even if it's the point guard (like Kyrie Irving during the past Finals). Curry, a proficient burglar, has often been placed on the weaker guard on defense.
Coaching
—Steve Kerr's entire coaching history has been with the Warriors when he joined the team in 2014. He is 337-138 (.709) in the regular season and 77-28 in the playoffs. Before last season, Kerr led the Dubs to five straight 50-plus win seasons, three of which were more than 60 wins.
Kerr was briefly a member of the Phoenix Suns organization, his only other NBA extracurricular after retiring from playing (besides broadcasting), acting as general manager from June 2007 to June 2010.
Kerr's coaching staff was made up of assistants Ron Adams, Mike Brown, Jarron Collins, and Bruce Fraser. All but Brown have been with Kerr's Warriors since 2014, with Brown, a one-time Coach of the Year, coming in 2016, a few years after his second go-around with the Cavs. Collins played in the NBA for a decade while Fraser was an assistant in the 1980s at Kerr's alma mater, Arizona. Adams has been an NBA assistant since the early 1990s.
Top golden state warriors Roster Questions
Who Did The Warriors Recently Sign?
—The Warriors don't have much cap room to work with, which resulted in a rather modest offseason for them in terms of acquiring new players via free agency.
They did add a couple of fresh faces to the squad. 31-year-old veteran Kent Bazemore, who ended last season with the Sacramento Kings, signed with the Warriors on a one-year deal. Similarly, former Boston Celtics point guard Brad Wanamaker also signed on a single-season contract for $2.3 million.
Who Are The Warriors Targeting In Free Agency?
—In the nearest free agency, Lakers center Dwight Howardhas been rumored to be sought after by the Warriors in 2020 following his renewed role on his former team leading to a ring.
At a later date, the Warriorshave been long linked to Bucks star and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can become a free agent in 2021. An Antetokounmpo arrival for Golden State would be their second coup de grâce in five years following the Kevin Durant landmark signing.
Who Did The Warriors Most Recently Trade For?
—With a lack of flexibility in their cap room situation, the Warriors knew that the only way they could significantly upgrade their squad for the coming season was via trades.
They did just that by bringing in Kelly Oubre Jr. from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a 2021 first-round pick and two 2021 second-round picks. Oubre, who averaged 18.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game for the Phoenix Suns last season, was earlier traded to the Thunder as part of the Chris Paul deal. Golden State quickly pounced on the opportunity to pry him away from the Thunder in the wake of the Klay Thompson injury.
What Is The Best Warriors Roster Of All-Time?
—The 2015-16 Warriors won an NBA record 73 games but fell short of winning the championship to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team was represented three times over at the All-Star Game with Curry, Thompson, and Green, and were one game away from capping off the best season ever with a title.
That being said, they didn't win. The following year was the first of back-to-back championships with Kevin Durant, and having KD on a roster dramatically improves it.
The 2016-17 Warriors had Durant, Curry, Thompson, Green, and Andre Iguodala (and Shaun Livingston, Zaza Pachulia, and JaVale McGee); they won 67 regular-season games and beat James and the Cavs in five games. They are the best Warriors team of all time.
What Is The Warriors' Salary Cap?
—Considering how Golden State's guaranteed salaries alone already amass to a whopping $142 million, this franchise is fully expected to operate as an above-the-cap team for the 2020-21 season. As a matter of fact, the Warriors are likely going to have the most expensive tax bill for the coming campaign.
The Warriors also have non-guaranteed salaries estimated to be above $5 million in total, and we also need to factor in the rookie-scale deal of second overall pick James Wiseman, which is estimated at around $8 of $9 million.
The good news for the Warriors is that they have an ownership group that is more than willing to shoulder the luxury tax. They've done this in the past, and 2020-21 should be no exception.
