The Golden State Warriors needed to improve their roster this offseason to build one that can truly contend.
After missing the playoffs last season, the team’s front office knew they needed to do more, especially considering they only have a handful of seasons left with the Big 3 all playing at a high level.
Although trade rumors have been in abundance this offseason, the Golden State Warriors have only marginally improved their roster.
Stephen Curry, 33, is coming off his second career season as the NBA’s scoring champion. Now locked up for the next five seasons after agreeing to a massive four-year extension, Curry will be in the Bay Area for the foreseeable future.
That should help the Warriors go all-in to improve their roster around the two-time MVP. Especially with five-time All-Star Klay Thompson ready to return, the Warriors have managed to put together a better ten-man rotation.
So far in free agency, they’ve added Otto Porter Jr., Andre Iguodala, and Nemanja Bjelica. All three were absolute steals on the veteran’s minimum deal. They’ll help improve the roster as the team lost Kent Bazemore and Kelly Oubre Jr.
The Warriors will undoubtedly have a better roster next season, but they’ll be far from title favorites. With the addition of Bradley Beal, Myles Turner or Pascal Siakam, they could’ve greatly improved their odds.
Considering how James Wiseman struggled defensively as a rookie, the Warriors may not be as good as they’d like to be on that end of the court. With Curry and Thompson, they’ll be fine offensively.
However, they don’t have that third superstar, and they didn’t drastically improve their defense. Thankfully, this roster should be competent enough to be a playoff contender, but it’d be shocking to see them in the top five in NBA title odds after free agency is completely over.
What can the Warriors do now to improve their roster? There are options there, but it would force their hand with their two lottery picks. A player like Joe Ingles, which seems impossible now without a possible Kelly Oubre Jr. sign-and-trade, would’ve highly improved their offense.
The Warriors would need to be okay with dealing Wiseman, Andrew Wiggins, and Jonathan Kuminga. Players like Ben Simmons could become available, but it’s unknown how much he’d actually improve this roster with his limited offensive game.
That said, the Warriors have had a good offseason, but without anything crazy having happened, they likely won’t bounce up into the top five in championship odds.