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Golden State Warriors: 2022-23 NBA Season preview

By Abhay Bethur

OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 17: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors hugs Stephen Curry #30 during their 2017 NBA Championship ring ceremony prior to their NBA game against the Houston Rockets at ORACLE Arena on October 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 17: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors hugs Stephen Curry #30 during their 2017 NBA Championship ring ceremony prior to their NBA game against the Houston Rockets at ORACLE Arena on October 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

The Wildcards

Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman 

These are the two players who will undoubtedly have most Warrior fans most intrigued by this season. Starting with Kuminga, his play was a nice gradual slope as of last year in the regular season but when he got minutes in the playoffs it was clear he was a purely situational player.

Kuminga at the moment doesn’t do much particularly well. He’s heavily reliant on his athleticism, which, even as it is, is a massive boon to the Warriors who are sorely lacking athleticism.

He showed nice productivity as a slasher and while his defensive awareness oftentimes lacked, he was particularly more effective as a point-of-attack defender against larger wings.  While he’s expected to get a larger regular season role this season, it’s at the moment unlikely he gets larger playoff minutes unless his defensive awareness grows and he manages to do more on offense besides just being a capable finisher at the rim.

James Wiseman is finally for the first time in his career having a training camp and is entering the season as the backup center.

He’s entering the season as arguably the most controversial player on the Warriors roster as there’s one considerably loud sect of Warriors Twitter hoping he gets traded and one sect hoping to see him develop and to keep forward with the bridging of the new and old core. Regardless of where you stand on that, fans will be eagerly watching his season.

As he’s coming off a serious meniscus injury, the expectations should be considerably lower. Wiseman should first be able to play and stay on the court consistently before making sweeping judgments.

Based on limited summer league action tape, it seems like the Warriors are going to be playing him in drop coverage, a switch from their usual switching defense. He has the size and length to contest shots but struggles in space, so it will be up to the coaching staff to avoid putting him in disadvantageous situations.

Offensively he’s best as a pick and roll big, and that’s what the Dubs are going to use him for. Here’s what Steve Kerr had to say about Wiseman per the Real One’s podcast.

"“Wise has the capability to do some things that Loon can’t, number one being a lob threat. So we gotta put Wise in a position where he can be diving to the rim, giving us that vertical spacing that we haven’t had maybe since JaVale was here. He runs the floor beautifully… There’s no doubt in my mind he’s gonna get better and better as the season goes on. He’s got a great future.”"

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