Grading Steph Curry, Warriors Top Stars to Open 2021-22 NBA Season
The Golden State Warriors have intrigued for a few reasons over the opening two weeks of the 2021-22 NBA season.
For starters, they entered Wednesday night with five wins in six tries. That's impressive and important for a team trying to ump from the play-in tournament to title contention.
More than that, though, the Dubs have turned heads less for what they are now and more for what they might become. Klay Thompson hasn't suited up yet. Neither has James Wiseman. Rookies Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga have barely broken a sweat. Oh, and if the Dubs decide they're unwilling to wait on player development, they could move one or more of these long-term assets for a potentially major upgrade.
Despite the strong start, the Warriors feel like they've revealed very little about their true identity. They have, however, shown enough to throw some letter grades at their brightest (healthy) stars.
Stephen Curry
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At some point in the not-so-distant future, age will come for Stephen Curry. It eventually advances on everyone, and he's already 33 years old with more than 30,000 career minutes between regular-season and playoff appearances.
The clock isn't catching up to him yet, though.
One season after becoming the oldest scoring champ since Michael Jordan, Curry is back in the driver's seat to do it again. He already has outbursts of 45 and 36 points, and he has at least six three-point splashes in half of his six outings. He entered Wednesday leading the NBA in both points per game (28.7) and FiveThirtyEight's all-encompassing Offensive RAPTOR (plus-8.7).
Curry's shooting rates aren't great by his standards (42.2 percent from the field, 38.8 from range), and he's on course to set a new career-high in turnovers (4.0), so it's not all perfect. But it's hard to nitpick the NBA's scoring leader too much.
Grade: A-minus
Draymond Green
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Draymond Green's value has never been defined by numbers. Not the first ones most fans would seek out on the stat sheet, at least.
The box scores don't always pick up on the impact of his screens, extra passes or defensive versatility. Having said that, when he goes absolutely silent on the offensive end, it's too easy for opponents to leave him unattended and focus on stopping Golden State's other scorers.
That's not happening this season. Green's 9.3 points per game may not sound like much, but they're his most in four seasons. He's also shattering his personal-best with a blistering 59.0 field-goal percentage and off to an encouraging 3-of-5 start from range.
Oh, he's also anchoring another top-five defense, pacing the offense with 7.0 assists and shaving 9.8 points off of his opponents' normal field-goal percentage, per NBA.com. He's doing a lot of the things that have made him great and acing some of the tests he has failed in the past.
Grade: A
Andrew Wiggins
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Andrew Wiggins joined the Warriors at the 2020 trade deadline, but he is still adjusting to this team in some ways.
He deserves credit for growing his game in helpful areas already. He was a 33.2 percent three-point shooter over his first six NBA seasons; he's at 38.2 percent since the start of last season. His defensive activity has perked up, and his turnover percentage has never been lower (8.3, per Basketball Reference).
Having said that, he's not a natural fit for this system, and it still shows at times. He doesn't always make the quickest reads with the basketball, and he can go rogue when he thinks he has an advantage to exploit. The Warriors are wise to let him stay somewhere near his comfort zone, but only if the production pays off. With his points, field-goal shooting, assists and free throws all down from last season, it's hard to say how much that's happening.
The Warriors need his athleticism, though, and he might be their best defensive option on high-scoring wings. He's helpful, just not by a massive amount.
Grade: C-plus
