1. Otto Porter Jr.
While his injury issues over the last 12 months means the Warriors won’t be missing the current version of Otto Porter Jr., the versatile forward the team had in 2021-22 is almost irreplaceable.
Porter’s combination of three-point shooting, rebounding and general veteran steadiness saw him become one of the unsung heroes of the 2022 championship team. He would start in the final three games over the Finals as Golden State overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Boston in six.
Before that Porter was an incredibly consistent performer for the Warriors, averaging 22.1 minutes across 63 regular season appearances. He would average 8.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists, shooting 37% from three-point range.
The former number three overall pick left Golden State for the Toronto Raptors last season, leaving a void that was practically impossible to fill. The franchise tried in the form of JaMychal Green, but that never worked out and probably wasn’t a fair expectation anyway.
The Warriors now have Dario Saric — someone with a slightly different playing style but whom the team hopes can fill the gap of a three-point shooting big. While the Croatian should prove a savvy and important free agency acquisition, it’s unlikely he becomes as valuable as Porter was.
Are we going to see Saric start games in the NBA Finals and perform like Porter did? Probably not and to be fair that’s not the expectation. The truth is that the 6’8″ forward was one of the best minimum contract signings in league history, let alone Warrior history.