Golden State Warriors basketball is back. Nearly five months since they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second-round of the 2023 playoffs, the teams meet again to open their preseason at Chase Center on Saturday evening.
With both teams holding championship-aspirations this season, the matchup will provide an early evaluation of where they’re at in their preparation.
The Golden State Warriors will be looking to making a strong start to their preseason when they host their pacific rivals on Saturday.
It will be a slightly different Warrior team to the one that lost to the Lakers in May, with only seven players — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Gary Payton II — remaining from last season’s playoff roster.
Veteran forward Draymond Green also remains but will miss the preseason opener as he recovers from an ankle injury that’s expected to sideline him for 4-6 weeks. Free agent signing Cory Joseph is also out with a back injury, while Rodney McGruder, who’s fighting for the 14th roster spot on a training camp deal, will miss due to being in concussion protocols, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
Still, head coach Steve Kerr will have 18 players available at his disposal. He plans to utilize all of them, stating on Friday that “every player in uniform will be out on the floor.” The debut of Chris Paul will be the headline act for Golden State, with many across the league awaiting to see how the veteran point-guard fits with his new team.
Kerr already confirmed the starting lineup earlier in the week, revealing Paul would start alongside Curry, Thompson, Wiggins and Looney. The Warriors will also unveil recent draftees Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis, both of whom showed promising signs at times in Summer League. They may have to wait until the second-half for opportunity, so too some on training camp deals battling for the 14th spot.
Taking too much from preseason, particularly the very first game, can be fraught with danger. However, there’s certain elements that may prove valuable in early analysis of the Warriors’ championship credentials. Let’s have a look at three aspects to watch for in the preseason opener against the Lakers:
1. Defense…defense…defense…
Steve Kerr recently referred to it as ‘the first point of business’ for the Warriors entering the 2023-24 season, and rightly so. Defense has been the staple of every successful Golden State team across the Kerr era, yet it plummeted last season in the face of some chemistry issues and lackadaisical performances on the road.
The Warriors were second in defensive rating during their 2021-22 championship season. In fact, they’ve been top two for defense in three of their four recent championship years. Last season they slipped to 14th, resulting in a sixth-placed finish in the West and eventually the second-round series loss to the Lakers.
The defensive unit we see in the preseason opener will be different to what we’ve seen in the past. Chris Paul comes in and replaces arguably last season’s worst defender in Jordan Poole — that should help even if Paul is 38-years-old and six years removed from the last of his nine All-NBA Defense selections.
Paul’s inclusion does slide Klay Thompson to the three, and defensively Kerr confirmed he’ll play at the four with Andrew Wiggins guarding the primary guard/wing option. The Lakers could prove a big early test for that theory with the potential of rolling out a frontcourt of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Christian Wood.
Understandably, the Warrior defense won’t be fully evaluated until Green returns from his ankle injury. However, the former Defensive Player of the Year only played 46 games when the team was second in defensive rating two years ago, so they’ve proven they can still be a good unit without him.
2. Chris Paul as an off-ball threat
Chris Paul’s debut with the Warriors, even if it’s just preseason, will be one of the most anticipated games across the league. Seeing the former foe in a Golden State jersey will be surreal for many, even if we’ve had months and now media day/training camp to acclimatize to the idea.
Stephen Curry described his offensive fit with Paul as ‘seamless’ on Thursday, that despite the obvious stylistic differences between the two great point-guards. The two-time MVP revealed that Paul had been running the break and shooting off-the-catch effectively, although Warrior fans will still hold some skepticism until they see that in game.
There should be some optimism on Paul’s off-ball shooting though given it was an area he leant more into with the Phoenix Suns last season. His 1.5 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts per game were the highest of his last eight seasons, with the 18-year veteran knocking down a highly effective 52.3% on those shots.
Playing alongside Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, there’s no reason Paul shouldn’t be able to get even more open looks. Can he run and be a spot-up threat in transition though, or even make cuts to the basket once in a while? These are the elements that make Paul’s fit with Golden State so intriguing.
In reality, one preseason game is hardly going to be enough data to do any analysis of the Paul acquisition. However, given this has been such a long wait, you know many will be overreacting regardless of whether his play is good, bad or indifferent.
3. Overall competitiveness and urgency
What’s preseason basketball actually mean? While win-loss results are often pointless for almost every team, recent history would suggest that it may actually pose some significance for the Warriors.
Rewind two years and Golden State, having missed the playoffs the previous season, came out and blitzed their opposition with a 5-0 record. The Lakers, on the other hand, stumbled to a 0-6 record.
When the regular season got underway, the Warriors caused an ‘upset’ over the Lakers at what was then Staples Center on opening night. But to anyone who actually watched preseason and believed even a small portion, it was no upset.
Golden State came out with urgency and purpose that preseason, clearly motivated after their Play-In Tournament exit at the hands of the Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies. The 5-0 record spurred a 17-3 run to start the regular season, eventually culminating in a triumphant 2022 NBA championship.
Last year the Warriors looked a little sluggish after the championship, and although a 3-2 record was hardly cause for concern, their 3-7 start to the regular season certainly was. They may have battled their way to the second-round of the postseason, but many would reflect back and say their chances for another title were lost 10 games into the season.
It feels like the motivation and urgency has returned based off the offseason moves and the general vibe within training camp. That can’t be fully assessed till games begin though, leaving even this first preseason game as an interesting test of where Golden State is at.
There’s motivation for almost everyone looking down the roster. Chris Paul is looking to integrate himself with a new team, and Stephen Curry, like everything, is the key in helping to make that happen.
Klay Thompson is reportedly in great shape and will want to start the season in hot form following his disastrous form late in the playoffs. Andrew Wiggins will hope to re-establish himself after a heavily-interrupted 2022-23 season, while Kevon Looney will be looking to ensure he’s not pushed back to a bench role once Draymond Green returns.
Every other player is either fighting for minutes in the rotation, or simply battling for a spot on the roster come the end of the preseason. This is not to say preseason is the be-all and end-all, but it should be regarded as something rather than simply nothing.