Grading every Golden State Warriors player after 30 games
To put it blankly, the Golden State Warriors have had an incredibly rough start to their championship-defending 2022-23 season.
Coming off the NBA title only six months ago, many believed the Warriors would be thereabouts again as a top contender in the league. Instead, they’re now two games below .500, 11th in a highly-competitive Western Conference, and face a mounting challenge with superstar Stephen Curry on the sidelines for the next few weeks.
Who is performing above expectations and contributing consistently to the Golden State Warriors’ season, and which players need to lift for the franchise to bounceback from their 14-16 start. Find out in our grades for each player below.
The following grades are evaluated based on expectations going into the season, rather than simply a list of who the Warriors’ best players have been. The state of this Golden State team, with two defined eras of experience and youth, makes this a tough exercise to undertake.
There’s clearly a raft of factors going into a player’s evaluation, particularly the younger players and the bench unit whose opportunities are determined by the judgements of Steve Kerr and the coaching staff. 15 of the Warriors’ 16 contracted players have been graded here, with Andre Iguodala the lone omission given he’s yet to play this season.
Each player will be evaluated with a grading between A+ and E. Here is a glossary to better comprehend how each player has been analysed.
Glossary
A+ Outstanding performances show they’re close to career-best form.
A Performing greatly above expectations — Contributing superbly.
A- Easily exceeding expectations — Very good season to date.
B+ Performing well above expectations — Important piece to winning.
B Performing above expectations — Franchise and fans are happy with the output.
B- Performing slightly above expectations — Certainly something to build on.
C+ Performing only just above expectations — Reasonable but not a standout.
C Solid — Performing to expectations.
C- Performing only just below expectations — Perhaps a little disappointing thus far.
D+ Performing slightly below expectations — Need to be better.
D Performing below expectations — Plenty of time to turn things around.
D- Performing well below expectations — Disappointing season.
E+ Performing greatly below expectations — needs a quick turnaround in form.
E Performing incredibly poorly — Should not be in rotation and future at franchise is under threat.