After missing the playoffs last year, the Golden State Warriors appreciated that they needed to make personnel changes to maximize the upside of 10-time All-Star point guard Stephen Curry, still a potent scorer even at the ripe old age of 36.
Even still, allowing Curry’s longtime backcourt mate Klay Thompson to leave for the Dallas Mavericks in a three-year, $50 million sign-and-trade came as a bit of a surprise.
Golden State pivoted quickly, opting to bring in ex-Philadelphia 76ers guards De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, and former Minnesota Timberwolves reserve forward Kyle Anderson to account for Thompson’s absence.
Read more: Warriors Believe They Improved This Offseason Despite Klay Thompson Departure
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
During a recent press conference, team president Mike Dunleavy Jr. and head coach Steve Kerr expressed optimism that they had made strides with regard to their personnel, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Given that essentially they swapped out Thompson for these three new faces, that certainly reads like a diss to the aging former five-time All-Star and probable Hall of Famer.
“We feel great about the team in the sense that we improved the team,” Dunleavy said. “At its core, we’ve got a good team [but] we’re probably as impatient of a franchise as you can be right now given our timeline and all that.”
Though the Warriors made the aforementioned major changes along the wing this summer, perhaps their most significant move was their decision to extend Curry to a two-season, $62.2 million contract extension through the 2026-27 season.
“There’s a fine line between impatience and undisciplined,” he said. “I think I feel good about the discipline that we held this summer and the roster we built and the growth from within that we’re going to have.”
One-time Warriors All-Star swingman Andrew Wiggins, who was occasionally away from the team during the past two seasons to spend time with his ailing father Mitchell Wiggins, is considered a likely candidate for a bounceback season.
Read more: Former NBA Guard Mitchell Wiggins, Father of Current Warriors All-Star Andrew, Dies at 64
“I’m expecting a big year from [Andrew Wiggins],” Kerr said. “He looks physically really fit,” Kerr said. “Just speaking with him, he sounds very motivated. He’s very much at peace. I think he’s in a place where he knows the last couple of years have been tough for a lot of reasons, and I think he’s primed to get back to where he was a couple of years ago.”
Golden State also has the tools to make personnel changes during the regular season, should it want to do that.
“We’ve got a lot of good basketball players, and then on top of it, we’ve got most of our assets,” Dunleavy said. “We’ve got ways to improve. We’ll be aggressive. Does that mean we’re definitely going to do something? No. We were super aggressive last year around the deadline. Didn’t do a whole lot. You’ve got to have a partner. … But the effort and the urgency will always be there.”
Make sure to follow Newsweek Sports for all your Golden State Warriors news and updates.
