Should the Warriors attempt to go for 74 wins next season?
By Derek Tahara
With perhaps their deepest roster in franchise history, should the Golden State Warriors try to chase down 74 wins next season?
Yes, yes, I know what you’re probably going to say. It’s along the lines of ‘Remember what happened the last time the Golden State Warriors went for a record-breaking 73 wins?’ Yes, I remember and so do the Warriors.
However, the 2015-2016 Warriors roster is a tad bit different than next season’s roster. The 2017-2018 roster players that were not on the 2015-2016 roster include Pat McCaw, David West, Zaza Pachulia, Nick Young, Omri Casspi, Jordan Bell, JaVale McGee and some guy who just got his first title named Kevin Durant.
Next season’s roster is not just different than the 2015-2016, their chemistry and cohesion might be even better than the 2015-2016 team. According to basketball-reference.com, the 2015-2016 Warriors team averaged 28.9 assists per game, which ranked first in the league compared to this past season, when this Warriors team averaged 30.4 assists per game, more than a full assist per game more.
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Additionally, both teams offensive and defensive rating is the same with the 2015-2016 team being at 114.5 points per game on offense and a defensive efficiency rating of 103.8, whereas the 2016-2017 the offensive rating rocketed up to 115.6 and the defensive rating slipped a bit, but still great at 104.0.
With another year of this loaded squad under their belt, the Warriors should reach even higher unprecedented heights next season. They got even richer snagging Nick Young and Omri Casspi, two long and athletic snipers that fit Golden State’s pace and space style offense.
Young has improved his defense under former Warriors coach Luke Walton and Casspi can work more with defensive guru Ron Adams on the defensive side of the ball.
Along with signing another couple of snipers in Young and Casspi, the Warriors retained much of their team last year with the exception of Ian Clark. Curry, Durant, West, McGee, Livingston, Iguodala and Pachulia all re-signed to give Golden State more of an opportunity to create a dynasty and something special in NBA history.
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With these re-signings of the core, Bob Myers and Joe Lacob are loading up and preparing for a dynasty, for several more broken records and it starts with the 2017-2018 Golden State Warriors going for 74 wins and breaking their own record of 73 wins they set in 2015-2016. Hopefully, soon after, 74-8 has a nice “ring” to it.