Golden State Warriors are reloading not rebuilding

People believe the Golden State Warriors are entering a rebuilding process, but they are only getting ready for a major comeback.

Expectations for the Golden State Warriors are always high, which makes sense since they have Steph Curry, a two-time MVP that is still in his prime. But expecting the team to get off to a good start was not realistic. The team introduced 4 new starters to the lineup while playing without one of their veteran leaders, Draymond Green.

They are also relying heavily on James Wiseman, a 19-year-old rookie that only played 3 games in college and didn’t play in the preseason. But despite getting blown out in the first 2 games and barely beating a rebuilding Bulls team and the winless Pistons, there is a reason for optimism.

Wiseman is the truth

After watching the first 4 games I am shocked at how good Wiseman is now and how great he will eventually be. The Warriors not only got the best player in the draft, but they also got a generational talent in a year when there supposedly wasn’t one.

After seeing Wiseman play I have no idea how there was ever any talk of Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball being better. Seeing Wiseman and Steph play off each other is a thing of beauty. In the West, most of the best big men are only dominant on one side of the court; Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic, and Rudy Gobert. The only truly great two-way big man is Anthony Davis. So the Warriors have to be thankful that they have a potential franchise player they can build around once Steph, Klay, and Draymond retire.

Curry can still cook

While the stats don’t reflect it, Steph Curry is still in his prime. He has looked just as good as the player that led the Warriors to 5 straight NBA Finals appearances and 3  championships. The great thing about Curry is that he is a ball handler that plays the right way. He doesn’t need anyone to create scoring opportunities for him since he is running the point. He also makes the game easier for the other players due to the gravity he commands. You saw in the Bulls game how he continually made the right pass to the open man even though his teammates were missing most of the open looks. The new Warriors will eventually get used to getting wide-open shots and will start knocking them down.

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Chemistry takes time

The biggest issue with the Warriors has been the shooting of Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr., two talented players that are learning to play winning basketball. While it’s natural for fans to take a small sample size of games and assume that will be the norm going forward, it’s not the case. Learning how to play in the Warriors takes time, it’s one of the more complicated offensive systems. Their offense philosophy is rooted in the principles of the Triangle offense which is predicated on off-ball movement and players identifying reads and making decisions amongst themselves. That is what makes it so hard for teams to prepare for the Warriors, there are no set plays or tendencies an opponent can prepare for. They change from game to game, as the players have the freedom to improvise as they play off each other.

Once Oubre Jr. and Wiggins develop that chemistry they will find their rhythm, and that is when their games will take off. Wiggins already showed improvement in the game as the Pistons.

Looking Ahead

The Warriors’ first two games were against championship-caliber teams, so it was not surprising they got blown out. As for the Bulls, while they are not a good team, most of their players were on the roster last season, so they had better chemistry. Beating them should be considered a slight upset. Detroit’s game got easier once Blake Griffin left due to injury.

But the next stretch of games looks more winnable. Two games against Portland how is good, but not dominant, then the Kings that are a .500 team at best. Hopefully, the Warriors can rack up some wins before a tough stretch of games starting with two games against Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers.