Warriors' Top Needs in 2024 NBA Offseason
The 2024 NBA offseason loom as a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is moment for the Golden State Warriors.
They fashion themselves as perennial championship contenders, a confidence that's absolutely deserved given their relatively recent run of winning four championships in eight seasons. Still, they weren't even a playoff participant this season, making that now three missed playoff trips over the past five seasons.
As long as Stephen Curry is around, they'll warrant some kind of discussion in title talks, but it's almost become a lifetime-achievement type of recognition of late. If they want people to actually believe they have banner-raising potential, then this front office needs to build a banner-raising roster.
More specifically, the Warriors need to address the following three areas.
Shooting
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It always feels almost borderline contrarian to suggest the Warriors have any sort of deficiency with their distance shooting. After all, those four aforementioned titles were secured in no small part thanks to the contributions of history's best-shooting backcourt: Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
There are a couple of things to note about, though, starting with the fact Thompson may have already played his last game for this team. He is an unrestricted free agent and a tricky one to price at that given the aftereffects of the lower-body injuries that erased his 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. He will have suitors, because his perimeter shot remains potent, but it's tough to tell whether he'll fetch more than whatever the Warriors' walkaway price point is.
Second, the siblings in splash do a ton of heavy lifting for this three-point attack. The Warriors averaged the second-most threes this season (14.8), but their third-most active outside shooter, Chris Paul, ranked just 157th in made threes (1.3 per game). Oh, and he might not be sticking around, either.
Regardless what happens with Thompson, the Dubs should be on the hunt for support spacers. Defenses already have a nightmare trying to contain Curry, but they might stand no chance if they had to account for multiple three-point threats around him, too.
Athleticism
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When the Warriors have been at their worst in recent years, they've seemed to age before our eyes. Put them against an energetic and explosive up-and-comer, and they can look aged, slow and ground-bound.
They have a few leapers in their ranks—Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins and Trayce Jackson-Davis all wave hello—but not enough to standout in that department. Or, more accurately, not to physically matchup against the Association's most athletic teams.
Golden State won't go all anti-gravity next season, but adding some extra explosion to the roster feels like an obvious way to counteract the aging curve.
The Warriors have typically leaned toward experience and instincts when building this roster and looking for fits with their system. It might be time to lean more into raw physical tools, even if it changes the way this system operates a bit.
Stephen Curry Co-Star
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Golden State's wish list isn't extensive in quantity, but the quality of these needs is enormous.
The Dubs have depth for days and role players for just about every archetype. What they don't have, though, is a true co-star for Curry, a fellow member of the league's elite who qualifies as a full-fledged difference-maker.
Or, given the caliber of names being tossed around, maybe we should go ahead and capitalize that as Difference-Maker. Because, as Sam Amick, Anthony Slater and Jovan Buha reported for The Athletic, the Warriors "will explore" any available paths to "LeBron [James], Giannis Antetokounmpo (their dream scenario), impending free agent Paul George or a reunion with Kevin Durant."
The Warriors were decent this season, but never dominant. Accessing that tier of the Association again probably only happens if Golden State can give Curry a legitimate co-star.
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