The Golden State Warriors drafted Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg. They agreed to new contracts with veteran centers Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. Draymond Green is set to re-sign with the team. And they are pursuing LeBron James and Anthony Davis to upgrade the roster.
To aid them in that pursuit, they declined to offer De'Anthony Melton a new deal, so he is hitting free agency. Pat Spencer is hitting free agency as well. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported late Tuesday night that the Warriors have lined up another move or two that would open up space for offering LeBron James a sizable contract, which probably means moving on from Moses Moody.
The net result of all of these moves? An incredible force of power forwards and centers who can fill the paint with height and length, and enough shooting among them to make it realistic to play two or even three of them at one time, especially when Jimmy Butler returns from injury (if he is not traded for Anthony Davis).
The Warriors have a problem with their plan
The problem? They are quickly becoming short on guards, to the point that a small problem is growing large: who is going to defend opposing guards?
Giving Stephen Curry the support that he needs at age 38 includes pairing him with an off-guard who can defend the best guard on the opposing team. That is why De'Anthony Melton was seen as such a great fit last season, and why the Warriors were locked into drafting Brayden Burries out of Arizona in last week's NBA Draft, before the Milwaukee Bucks swiped him off the board one pick before Golden State.
Now, the Warriors have Brandin Podziemski penciled in as the starter at shooting guard, and after him...nothing.
Every other player on the roster and on the team's target list is a frontcourt player. If you add in the rumors from last week that the Warriors might be targeting a bench scoring guard like Anfernee Simons or Collin Sexton, then you at least have a body in the backcourt -- but you certainly don't have a high-level defender.
The Warriors know the value of backcourt defenders
Podziemski is fine on defense, but he is no one's idea of a stopper. The Warriors have usually had a wave of bodies to throw at opposing guards, be that Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston during the dynasty, or Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II in 2022. Last season, the combination of Melton, Payton and Moody helped to buoy their optionality in the backcourt.
Could the Warriors still bring back some of those players? They absolutely could. But thus far, the focus has been on loading the team with frontcourt players who can almost exclusively only defend frontcourt players. For a team whose best player is a superstar offensive guard with a 38-year-old body, finding capable and preferably young defensive help beside him is a necessity.
Thus far, it doesn't seem to be a priority. And if the Warriors land all of their dream targets and end up with Seth Curry and Collin Sexton as his backcourt partners, they will likely regret not prioritizing the backcourt more.
The Warriors get the benefit of the doubt, for now. That could evaporate quickly.
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