Grading Golden State Warriors' Final 15-Man Roster
Having done their part, NBA general managers are now wiping their hands after a busy offseason. The Golden State Warriors, who established themselves as dark-horse title contenders last season, didn’t go through a massive roster overhaul, but they did address some weaknesses in their depth chart.
Unfortunately, Andrew Bogut, the team’s defensive anchor, was hurt before the 2014 NBA playoffs even tipped off. The short-handed Dubs still managed to drag the Los Angeles Clippers through a thrilling seven-game series but conceded a five-point loss in the deciding contest.
Not having home-court advantage cost the Warriors dearly last season. Moving into this year’s campaign, Golden State’s front office tweaked the roster just enough to make it a favorite for a top-four seed in the Western Conference.
A blockbuster trade involving Kevin Love and Klay Thompson was rumored to be on the table, per Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears, but Warriors GM Bob Myers opted to keep his enchanting backcourt, dubbed “Splash Brothers," intact. The Warriors are also banking on the fact that their young core will continue to develop, which contributed to the lack of any major moves.
Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush and Shaun Livingston were the team’s three biggest offseason acquisitions, and all three should carve out some kind of roles in head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation.
Golden State hopes that Kerr’s fluid offensive system and a reinforced backcourt will be enough to take the team to the promised land. Whether or not the Dubs have what it takes to claw their way through the dark forest that is the Western Conference remains to be seen. In the meantime, let’s take a look at how their refreshed roster looks this year.
Point Guards
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The Warriors are fortunate enough to have one of the best point guards in the NBA, who also happens to be the best shooter in the world.
Curry is a bona fide superstar, but adding depth behind him has been a challenge. Last year, the team acquired Jordan Crawford and Steve Blake in an attempt to alleviate some pressure at the position and provide some much-needed playmaking.
Having two more ball-handlers helped, but it didn't solve the team's issues.
Many Warriors players struggled offensively when Curry was off the floor, especially Harrison Barnes. Playing without Curry, Barnes' field-goal percentage dipped from 41.3 to 37.8 percent, and he scored just 0.9 points per shot, compared to 1.01 when he shared the floor with the team's star, per NBAwowy (membership required).
Golden State has another great playmaker in Andre Iguodala, but former head coach Mark Jackson rarely handed the point guard duties to the 6'6" veteran.
As it so happened, the Warriors stumbled upon a gold mine during the offseason, splashing their mid-level exception on Shaun Livingston.
Livingston, 29, gives the Dubs everything they need. He is a good playmaker, an extraordinary defender and a matchup nightmare in the post against smaller guards.
While he can’t stretch the floor, the 6'7" Livingston can share the floor with Curry and allow the team’s superstar to play off the ball in certain lineups. As a result, Livingston’s presence should open up all kinds of creative gates for Kerr, who emphasizes crisp ball movement in his hybrid offensive system.
Unfortunately, Livingston is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season, according to Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears, but he should fit right in once he recovers from his toe injury.
Leandro Barbosa is another guy who will likely log some minutes at the point guard position, especially in Livingston’s absence. At the age of 31, Barbosa’s blistering speed has deteriorated somewhat, but he is still quick enough to beat most guys off the dribble.
He is not great at creating for others, but the 6'3" guard is still versatile enough offensively to open up space for his teammates, either by driving to the basket or stretching the floor.
Position grade: A
Shooting Guards
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Klay Thompson is being widely acknowledged as one of the best two-way shooting guards in the league, and he will continue to play big minutes for the Warriors this year.
Much like Livingston, the 6'7" Thompson utilizes his length very well on both ends of the floor, while also having one of the best shooting strokes on the planet.
There aren’t many minutes up for grabs behind Thompson, but the personnel Golden State’s front office has brought in should do a decent enough job.
Brandon Rush can stretch the floor and is an energetic defender, so he will be a viable two-way option off the bench behind Thompson.
Once Livingston returns, Barbosa will likely play off the ball as a 2-guard quite a bit as well.
Overall, the Warriors didn’t need to do much to improve their shooting guard depth. Despite a heavy minute load, Thompson is one of the most durable players in the league, and his new backups should fill in nicely when he needs a breather.
Position grade: B+
Small Forwards
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Andre Iguodala might not have put up big numbers last season, but he was still extremely impactful.
Upon his arrival, the Warriors evolved into an elite defensive team. In 2012-13, Golden State ranked 13th in the league in defensive efficiency, improving to a top-three ranking in 2013-14. He was also the only true playmaker other than Curry, so his role was crucial.
Kerr will be able to play Iguodala in three different positions and utilize his talents in all kinds of funky lineups, but the 30-year-old should end up as the starting small forward in the end.
Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green are two very decent options behind Iguodala, although they will both likely play quite a bit at the power forward position as well.
Having a couple more legitimate playmakers who can put Barnes into his comfort spots will help him, and he should bounce back from what was mostly a relatively stagnant 2013-14 campaign. Being stripped of his starter status, Barnes was asked to do a bit too much off the bench for the team last year.
Green also made huge strides over the last couple of seasons. He still needs to become a more consistent three-point shooter, but he is versatile enough defensively to guard several positions.
It does appear that Kerr could be looking to make Iguodala into a sixth-man, while starting Barnes. It might be a viable idea while Livingston is out, as Iguodala would be the primary ball-handler off the bench. Still, he brings a great balance to the Warriors' starting lineup, so we will have to wait and see if Kerr follows through with this particular plan.
All in all, Golden State didn’t really need to upgrade too much at the 3. We could potentially even see Kerr experimenting with three-guard lineups involving Thompson, Curry and Livingston, so there will definitely be a lot of internal competition for minutes on the wing.
Position grade: B+
Power Forwards
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David Lee is a very good passer and an elite scorer in the post, qualities that will fit nicely into Kerr’s offensive schemes, which should involve some triangle sets. The Warriors have had a lot of success playing Barnes and Green at the power forward position as well, and that should continue to be the case.
Lee’s defensive deficiencies have been well-documented over the years, but the Dubs will have even more talent on that end of the floor to make up for his lapses.
Barnes and Green are also very good stretch 4 options and will get a lot of run up front. A favorite small lineup of Jackson's last season consisted of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Green and Lee. You don't get a lot of rim protection with those guys, but it's an extremely mobile lineup that ran circles around the opposition.
Offensively, the above five put up 123.4 points and allowed 88.4 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com—outrageous numbers that would have led the league in both categories by a wide margin.
Golden State has quite a bit of versatility at the forward positions, and Marreese Speights could be the odd man out in Kerr's rotation. Speights is an average finisher around the rim, especially for a big man, and a streaky mid-range shooter. The Warriors simply have a lot more attractive options than him.
Position grade: B
Centers
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When healthy, Andrew Bogut is still one of the best defensive big men in the entire league. The Warriors scored 4.5 points more and allowed 2.1 points less per 100 possessions with the seven-footer on the floor last season. Those are very impactful numbers.
The Australian is part of a breed of big men who bring intangible qualities offensively, which explains the team's offensive numbers when he is playing. He is a great passer, has an incredibly high basketball IQ and sets some terrific screens. When you have insanely skilled offensive players in other positions, an unselfish center such as Bogut is invaluable.
The Warriors are relatively stacked across the field, but they are still rather thin at the center position. You are not getting 82 games out of Bogut, and preserving his health for the playoffs will have to be Kerr’s priority.
Festus Ezeli will be the natural first option behind Bogut, but it’s questionable whether he is ready to fill the gap. He has looked pretty solid in the preseason but is coming off a serious injury. It will take him time to get back into things, and the health concern will linger as well.
Before getting hurt last season, Ezeli put together an acceptable rookie campaign. He was pretty limited offensively, but the Warriors have enough talent to not require his scoring.
Ognjen Kuzmic might carve out some minutes for himself as well, but he doesn't have much experience in the league. Either way, Kerr seems to like him.
Another conceivable experiment for Kerr could be running supersmall lineups without a true center. Four shooters and Lee at the 5 looks like a disastrous proposition defensively, but, as mentioned in the previous slide, it worked wonders in the past.
With Ezeli and Bogut being injury prone, the center position clearly isn't the team's strength. Still, the Dubs have more than enough talent on the roster to survive if Bogut ends up missing time this year.
Position grade: C
All statistics are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com, unless otherwise noted.
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