The Golden State Warriors have provided one of the biggest shocks to start the NBA season, jumping out to a 10-2 record following Friday's win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center.
The strong start has brought comparisons to the Warriors' 2021-22 season where they started with an impressive 18-2 record before eventually winning the championship against the Boston Celtics.
The Warriors are missing one key piece in trying to replicate their 2022 success
More specifically Golden State are trying to replicate their defensive prowess from that year, having brought in notably versatile defenders De'Anthony Melton (currently injured) and Kyle Anderson during the offseason, as well as former NBA All-Star Jerry Stackhouse as a defensive coordinator next to Steve Kerr on the bench.
In a recent interview with Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, Kerr noted how that championship season is providing the blueprint for this newest version of the Warriors.
"So to me, the model is ’22. We won the championship in ’22 with a similar mix to what we have now," Kerr said. "Good on both sides of the ball, establish the defense — I think we finished second in efficiency that year, if I’m not mistaken."
Kerr is correct -- Golden State were second in defensive rating that season only behind the Celtics. This Warrior team is currently fourth in defense, sitting only below the Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets.
While Golden State may have a similar defensive capacity, they are lacking one important piece when it comes to purely their roster makeup. It's easy to forget that Otto Porter Jr. started in the last three games of the 2022 NBA Finals, and also closed a number of games and had plenty of big moments during the regular season.
Porter was so important because he was a 6'8" sharpshooter, often allowing Kerr to go smaller and space the floor with Draymond Green at the five while not completely eviscerating the team of size and defensive ability.
The Warriors have yet to appropriately replace the now-retired Porter since he left in free agency following the championship. They tried with JaMychal Green and Dario Saric yet both were disappointing, and now they don't really have that style of player on the roster aside from two-way contracted rookie Quinten Post.
Anderson certainly brings some versatility on both ends of the floor, but teams aren't guarding him as an outside shooter. The same can be said for Jonathan Kuminga who has been closing next to Green in recent games, and who has been playing exceptionally well since moving back to the bench after the first three games of the season.
Whether Golden State need another shooting option at the four-five position remains a question mark. They may be able to withstand it through the course of the regular season, but it could become an issue if they make the playoffs where the game often slows down into a half-court style.