Golden State Warriors in no danger of repeating rival’s fatal mistakes

With reports the Golden State Warriors are set to meet with Dwight Howard next week, some on social media have been quick to poke fun at the franchise’s aging squad heading into the 2023-24 season.

The Howard reports have garnered jokes of the Golden State ‘retirement home’, while the franchise has drawn comparisons to former Los Angeles Lakers teams of 2003-2004 and most recently 2021-22.

The Golden State Warriors are in no danger of following a similar path to that of the 2021-22 Los Los Angeles Lakers.

The 2021-22 Lakers entered the season with a star-studded roster with a raft of future hall-of-fame players. The only issue was that most were far removed from their prime, and as a result the team was far less effective than it appeared on paper.

Injuries inevitably hit and their fit on the floor together was disastrous anyway. After heading into the season as one of the championship favorites, the Lakers finished 11th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record.

This current Warrior roster is highly unlikely to suffer the same fate, even if Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office feel compelled to sign Howard to their vacant 14th roster spot. Golden State may have prioritized a win-now approach characterized by the acquisition of 38-year-old Chris Paul, but there still appears a balance to this team that the Lakers never had.

If the Warriors do sign Howard, they’ll enter opening night against the Phoenix Suns with six players age 32 or over. By comparison, the Lakers entered 2021-22 with nine players 32 or above. Five of those players were at least 35, while Golden State will have three if they bring in Howard.

Stephen Curry may be 35, but he’s still arguably an MVP-level player. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green may be slightly below their very best, yet at 33-years-old they’re still high-level starters who could push for an All-Star berth. In Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors have two starters each in their late twenties who are in their prime.

The contrast between this Warrior roster and the 2021-22 Lakers gets even more stark when you look at the respective benches. Former lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are likely to each earn substantial roles, providing the sort of young talent that Laker squad simply didn’t possess.

Dario Saric (29) and Gary Payton II (30) will also be key members of Golden State’s second-unit. If you go back to the Lakers opening night game against the Warriors in 2021, their first three off the bench were Carmelo Anthony (37), Howard (35) and Rajon Rondo (35).

Quite frankly, Warrior fans should laugh at comparisons between this roster and that of the Lakers two years ago. Of course, the proof will be in the pudding and it’s no guarantee of championship success, but missing the Play-In Tournament entirely as LA did seems absolutely inconceivable at this point.