Grading Every Golden State Warriors Player Entering NBA Finals
The Golden State Warriors haven't quite made Western Conference titles inevitabilities on a par with death and taxes, but they did just pick up No. 3 as part of the winningest three-year stretch in NBA history.
They are the first team to bring an unblemished 12-0 record into the NBA Finals. They are on pace to shatter the record for playoff point differential with a staggering mark of plus-16.3 points per game.
It's as if everything is coming up aces. But leave it to a nit-picking grader like myself to prove otherwise.
Sure, the Dubs had a few stars carry 4.0 marks through the first three rounds. But for the most part, this roster has fared somewhere between OK and really good during this team-wide run of dominance.
Expectations, statistical achievements and overall impact all play a part in our assessments of postseason performance.
End of Bench
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15. Kevon Looney, PF
Much like his rookie season, Looney has been out of the equation due to a hip injury. There hasn't been any surgery this time around, but there also haven't been any minutes. He's the only player on the roster to have not reached the floor this postseason.
Grade: N/A
14. Damian Jones, C
Custodial work isn't the most coveted NBA gig, but three consecutive sweeps provided Jones with a decent amount of mop-up time. The rookie has nearly logged a quarter of the minutes (21) he received in the regular season (85), while closing out four contests decided by an average of 26 points. He's also tallied at least a point and a rebound in every outing, although he's a minus-eight overall.
Grade: C-
13. James Michael McAdoo, PF
Not much has changed during McAdoo's third playoff run with the Warriors. His energy, athleticism and versatility help him hold his own when needed, but his skill set isn't strong enough to force his way on to the floor. He's received 10-plus minutes in three games and sat out three others, and somehow both allotments have seemed about right.
Grade: C
12. Matt Barnes, SF
For those with a sentimental slant, Barnes has evoked all the feels as a direct link back to the wildly popular (and perhaps transformative) "We Believe" Warriors. There's something special about a player who helped this franchise finally gain some relevance return at a time when it's reached the pinnacle of the sport.
"It's a dream come true," he told reporters of the Western Conference championship. "To be able to come back to really, kind of where I got started at, and to have an opportunity to do it with these guys, it's been a blessing."
But on a basketball level, Barnes has been a disaster this postseason. He has misfired on nine of his 12 field-goal attempts—including all six of his threes—and tallied more fouls (eight) than points (six). The Warriors have been outscored by 13 points over his 52 minutes.
Grade: D
11. JaVale McGee, C
McGee is a specialist, rarely impacting the game outside of the restricted area but using his hustle and explosiveness to dominate inside it. Savvy clubs can exploit him a bit by forcing him out of his effective areas, and he's tough to play when that happens (less than seven minutes in two Western Conference Finals games). But he's usually an energetic shot in the arm (plus-75 in 126 minutes).
Grade: B-
Supporting Cast
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10. Patrick McCaw, SG
McCaw embodies the luxury that is the Warriors' depth. When they have been without Andre Iguodala or Kevin Durant this season, McCaw—a rookie second-rounder, remember—has filled in admirably, despite his role fluctuating wildly around those emergency appearances. He may not be guaranteed meaningful Finals minutes if Golden State is at full strength, but he's proved ready to help if needed.
Grade: B
9. David West, PF
There isn't an offense better equipped to utilize West's vision and passing. Whether he's hitting cutters on the move, spotting open snipers or sticking mid-range jumpers when given too much space, the 36-year-old is thriving as a temporary offensive hub (6.9 assists per 36 minutes, second on the team). Athleticism still gives him problems defensively, but he's thriving where the team needs him most.
Grade: B
8. Ian Clark, SG
The revelation that was regular-season Ian Clark has reached new heights in the playoffs. Everything is up—points (7.5), rebounds (1.8) and shooting from all three levels (.524/.400/.933). The 6'3" scoring guard is also trimming 2.8 points off his opponents' field-goal percentages.
"He really battles," Warriors assistant coach Ron Adams said, per Bay Area News Group's Carl Steward. "I think what distinguishes him is that he's really good on the ball, really active, and he really likes to mix it up around the rim. ... He has a nice gamut of defensive skills and when he's confident, he just does a good job doing a lot of things."
Clark didn't always have a rotation spot in the regular season, but he's played more minutes during the big dance than everyone but the Hamptons Five.
Grade: B+
7. Shaun Livingston, PG
As unique as Livingston is as a 6'7" point guard, it can be tough at times for him to stand out. The Warriors have a two-time MVP running point, plus a host of long-limbed, intelligent interchangeable parts. Livingston is shooting an absurd 61.3 percent and hauling in 6.0 rebounds per 36 minutes. But he's mostly been a background player through three rounds, and he lost three games to a sprained finger.
Grade: B-
6. Zaza Pachulia, C
Pachulia's playoff run will be remembered for far more than his play. He became public enemy No. 1 for injuring Kawhi Leonard, then he entertained the masses by failing to find a hat big enough for his head. He also missed the last two games with a heel injury but sounds fine for the Finals. On the court, he was his typical solid-but-unspectacular self, using brains and brawn to battle a lack of athleticism.
Grade: B-
Andre Iguodala, SF
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When Andre Iguodala trudged out of the regular-season gate, it seemed like a calculated move from a cagey vet. Well, he was either pacing himself or he'd lost a lot of ground in his race with Father Time.
As he dazzled down the stretch—elevating both his volume and efficiency after the All-Star break—he appeared to validate the strategy of saving his best ball for when it mattered most. But the 33-year-old has labored through these playoffs, missing time to knee soreness and rarely looking like himself.
A glue guy at heart, he's never the easiest player to define in statistical terms. But there's no sugarcoating 41.8 percent shooting, nor the fact Golden State has fared 15.5 points better per 100 possessions without him. And his 3-of-27 showing from three is alarming, even if he'd like you to believe otherwise.
"I kind of have an idea (what's going wrong)," Iguodala said, per Steward. "But I think when I haven't made a three in the playoffs, we've won. ... When the time's right, I'm very confident that it will fall. I'm not worried about it."
The Warriors might feel differently. While they need Iguodala mostly for his defense—which, by the way, hasn't been up to par these playoffs—they are substantially easier to defend when he can't make outside shots. No one needed this lengthy layoff before the Finals more than him.
Grade: C-
Klay Thompson, SG
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All playoff shooting woes are untimely, but Klay Thompson's are different. Clearly, they haven't dragged the Warriors down, but there are so many good-to-great things happening around him that any noticeable struggles stand out like scuff marks on all-white kicks.
His current stat sheet is unsightly, particularly by his standards. His field-goal percentage has plummeted more than eight points from the regular season (38.3, from 46.8), and his perimeter success rate is down an even five (36.4, from 41.4). Tack on a rising turnover rate (10.1 percent, up from 8.0), and this is starting to cost him touches (41.5, from 48.4) and shots (13.9, from 17.6).
That's a troublesome trend since, as Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle noted, a sniper like Thompson must shoot his way out of a funk:
"To dig out of his latest rut, Thompson won't overhaul his approach. His repetitive motion, considered by some the purest shooting form in league history, has been the driving force behind a 37-point quarter, an 11-three-pointer playoff game and Golden State's first 60-point performance in 42 years. The law of averages suggests that Thompson's three-pointers will start to fall soon enough."
One encouraging trend is that Thompson's errant shooting hasn't affected his defense. He's still an overwhelming positive on the floor, trailing only Stephen Curry and Draymond Green in playoff plus/minus (plus-170).
But the Dubs need Thompson to rediscover his touch before the competition level exponentially spikes in the Finals.
Grade: C
Draymond Green, PF
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Draymond Green used the regular season to grab pole position in the Defensive Player of the Year race, book his second consecutive All-Star appearance and snag an All-NBA roster spot.
He has somehow upped the ante in the playoffs.
"Green has been, without question (but with plenty of competition), the best player for the Warriors this postseason," Fox Sports' Dieter Kurtenbach wrote. "His offensive game is peaking and as full of paradoxes as ever—deft and powerful, understated and in-your-face—and his defensive impact is transcendent."
This has been Draymond at his do-it-all best. He leads the Warriors in—clears throat—minutes (34.7), rebounds (8.7), assists (7.2), blocks (2.1), three-point percentage (47.2) and steals (1.9, tied for the lead). Of equal importance, the full-throttle forward has just two technicals and zero flagrant fouls.
Green is again proving a jack-of-all-trades and master of several. He's quarterbacking the league's most potent offense and anchoring the postseason's best defense. Even if he doesn't fit the mold of a typical superstar, that's exactly the type of impact he's making.
Grade: A+
Kevin Durant, SF
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Remember how unfair it felt when Kevin Durant joined this 73-win monster last summer? Well, the resulting embarrassment of riches has never looked more absurdly dominant than it does now.
"They are measurably better with Durant worked in as a core piece of this, and that is what the Warriors are showing the world in these playoffs," Bay Area News Group's Tim Kawakami wrote.
Durant, who missed 19 of the last 22 regular-season games and two of the first three playoff contests, has managed to climb above his All-NBA second-team level. He has elevated his scoring (25.2 per game), field-goal (55.6) and three-point (41.7) shooting, all while defending better than he ever has.
And he continues to ingrain himself deeper into the Warriors fabric. His two-man net ratings with Curry (plus-23.7), Green (plus-27.9) and Thompson (plus-22.4) are all up substantially from the regular season.
Durant has been both a lethal participant of this ball movement-based attack and the perfect deviation from it as an isolation assassin.
Grade: A
Stephen Curry, PG
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It may have taken Stephen Curry longer than anyone adjusting to Durant's arrival, which makes sense since Curry was probably forced to make the biggest change.
The point guard often deferred to the high-scoring wing, and Curry didn't really post his old MVP stat lines until Durant went down.
But Curry looks completely comfortable down, and he's demolishing defenses as a result. He has the postseason's third-highest scoring average (28.6) and a 50/40/90 slash line to boot—actually, it's .502/.431/.907. The Dubs have destroyed their opponents by 24.3 points per 100 possessions when he's playing and been outscored by 3.9 when he's sitting.
If there's a difference between this Curry and the award-winning one, it's that this one might be a more efficient shooter and discerning playmaker.
"He looks again like the Curry who used to torment big men caught against him on the switch," Marcus Thompson II wrote for the Mercury News. "He looks again like the deadly shooter who made every three to punctuate a run and explode the arena. He looks like the player that San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich once said was like watching Michael Jordan."
Golden State doesn't always need Curry to dominate. He has shot below 40 percent twice this postseason, and the Warriors won those games by 40 combined points. But when he brings his best, his teammates typically follow suit and this group becomes a force unlike any other in the hoops universe.
Grade: A+
Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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