One of the only saving graces from sludging through the 2019-20 NBA season for the Golden State Warriors was the hope of embarking on a satisfactory revenge tour the next season. Fittingly, Klay Thompson suffered a season-ending injury shortly before the journey could begin – delaying the sweet taste of redemption for at least one more year.
Even so, many Dubs’ fans were under the impression that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green alone would be enough to strike fear into the heart of their opponents. A supporting cast of Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, Kelly Oubre and the No. 2 overall pick, James Wiseman, all seemed to be enough on paper to lock a playoff spot in the West.
Expectations change. It’s time to count our cards and reevaluate the Golden State Warriors’ ceiling this season.
At this point, the Warriors are grappling with the reality that this supporting cast isn’t enough. For the first time in his life, Curry is watching his 30-point explosions fizzle in vain as his team loses games regardless. Even Green, who has declined offensively, is having the best playmaking season of his career only for it to amount to the ninth-best record in the conference.
The issue isn’t overly complicated. Oubre and Wiggins have taken turns going cold from the field while no one outside of Curry is capable of creating their own shot on a routine basis. The Dubs fall off quickly when their second unit checks in, despite scoring the seventh most bench points per game.
Inconsistency from their wing players, combined with inexperience from Wiseman and the sixth most turnovers in the league all make up for a team who just doesn’t have enough to safely secure a playoff spot – let alone become a dark horse candidate for the title.
It’s time to accept that the Warriors, even if everything clicks, will max out as a first (maybe second?) round playoff team. And that’s if everything goes right. Realistically, we are looking at a team that will finish in the 7-10 range and potentially competes in the play-in tournament.
This has us asking, is it all worth it? Is the experience of being bounced in the first round valuable enough to sacrifice another lottery pick? I don’t think so.
With that being said, the Dubs have a mixed bag of games coming up. They face lottery teams like the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers but also tackle some giants in the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers. All the while, they have pivotal games against other playoff contenders such as Memphis and Dallas.
The Warriors ceiling isn’t much higher than where they currently are – but if they are going to reach it, we’ll find out during the next few weeks.