Four Factors That Make the Golden State Warriors Better Than You Think

It was a given that the Warriors off-season was going to be exciting the moment it was announced that Baron Davis was heading back home to LA. 

Summer league has brought further excitement, and new reasons to believe for Warriors fans. Anthony Randolph has looked much more like an NBA player than a bust, Marco Belinelli is starting to develop a more well rounded game, and Richard Hendrix proved to be as good a rebounder as advertised in his first game.   So you must forgive Warriors fans if the signings of Corey Maggette and Ronny Turiaf feel like something of a let down. Neither have the Hollywood personality of Baron Davis, nor the game changing talent of Elton Brand, Josh Smith, or any number of 2010 free agents. However, although these moves aren’t splashy or likely to draw the fans that Baron Davis could simply by stepping on the court, they might end up making a lot of basketball sense.   

Assuming they are able to retain up-and-coming players Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis, the Warriors are starting to build a well balanced rotation around their young core of Biedrins and Ellis. As Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury news notes, “...what Mullin has formulated now is a 9- or 10-man rotation, with youth and versatility, that has some money next season (Foyle’s $6.8M buy-out number comes off the cap) and some interesting ways to go.” It would be silly to expect this team to win more games, but their future looks quite bright.

As I probed deeper into what Mullin & Co. is constructing, I also noticed something about the way the Warriors’ front office has put together this team. In Maggette, the Warriors have an efficient scorer and free-throw shooter. Turiaf should bring an increased offensive rebounding percentage to the team.

When you look at the Warriors' moves from that perspective, you see that their reasoning is actually quite consistent with Dean Oliver’s Four Factors concept. If that is indeed the line of reasoning they are following (or something similar), then the Warriors may have improved their roster more than we think from a basketball standpoint.  What the Warriors have lost in star power and flash this offseason, they have made up for with sound basketball decisions that may compensate for the increased financial flexibility they’ve

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