Golden State Warriors will be fighting for a playoff berth

It will be a battle for the Golden State Warriors to reach the postseason this year.

From the moment Kevin Durant announced his decision to join the Brooklyn Nets, the Golden State Warriors knew their back was against the wall. The franchise scurried to trade away longtime veteran, Andre Iguodala, in order to bring in a young star in D’Angelo Russell.

This deal was a direct result of the Warriors understanding they needed to surround Stephen Curry and Draymond Green with more talent if they wanted to survive the waiting period for Klay Thompson.

However, now it seems that Thompson’s ACL injury will keep him sidelined longer than expected. Steve Kerr is expecting Klay to miss the entire season, putting the Warriors playoff hopes in jeopardy.

The Warriors will be tasked with traversing through a tough Western Conference schedule. Numerous teams are already locked for playoff berths while many others have enough talent to compete for a lower seed.

Barring any major injuries, the LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets are almost certainly reaching the postseason. Meanwhile, the improved Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans will be in the race as well. Of course, don’t forget about the consistently great San Antonio Spurs either.

This puts the Warriors in a must-win position. There are 10 other teams with a legitimate chance to steal a playoff spot from the Dubs. One rough stretch could be the deciding factor for Golden State.

The core of Curry, Green and Russell is a strong one, but the rest of the roster is pitiful. A lack of experience and skill on the bench will ultimately be the Dubs downfall.

Players such as Alec Burks, Willie Cauley-Stein, Glenn Robinson III and Marquese Chriss are going to have more responsibility than ever before. Seeing as how none of these players have proven to be worthy role players, it brings the Warriors fate into uncertainty.

It’s going to take a monstrous season from the Dubs big three in order to reach the playoffs. Luckily, Curry is fresh off one of his best playoff runs in which he averaged 28.2 points per game. A fully focused Curry is capable of accomplishing great things and might be enough to keep the Warriors relevant.

Still, Golden State is going to suffer from a short rotation and lack of depth. There is no sugar coating it, the Dubs bench isn’t going to produce enough to keep them competitive. This means all of the pressure will be on Curry, Green and Russell.

For Curry and Green, this is no big deal. These two have played in some of the biggest games of the decade and are fully prepared to carry the weight of a franchise.

In contrast, this is a new experience for Russell. Never before has the one-time All-Star been asked to hold so much responsibility. The closest thing to pressure that D-Lo has faced was in last year’s playoffs and he underperformed heavily, shooting just 35.9 percent from the field.

Without Thompson, the Warriors margin for error shrinks. A blunder from one of the big three will be more than enough to derail a game. The safety net is gone, leaving the Warriors completely vulnerable to a disastrous fall from grace.

The championship culture has taken a hit and it will take nothing short of a miracle to keep them in title contention. Don’t be surprised if this team is barley fighting for a playoff spot deep into the regular season.