Warriors secret weapon may actually be sitting on the sidelines

In just their second preseason game against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors defied and shook off the offensive rustiness that had plagued them just days earlier against the L.A. Clippers.

The Warriors poured in 122 points on 54.5% shooting from the floor, helping them to a 10-point victory over their pacific rival. Yet it was the barrage of threes that emerged as the main talking point, with Golden State shooting 28-of-52 from beyond the arc in what would have been a franchise record.

Terry Stotts is already proving his worth at the Warriors

Most have focused on the playing personnel within that performance, notably led by Buddy Hield who finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor and 6-of-7 from three-point range.

Another key offseason addition, De'Anthony Melton, added four threes and 16 points off the bench, and so too did fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga. Yet the most underrated aspect to the Warrior offense was sitting on the sidelines proving the architect behind it all.

Golden State not only changed up their playing roster this offseason, but their coaching staff as well. That included bringing in former long-time head coach Terry Stotts to oversee the offense, something that's already paying dividends.

“The stuff that we’re putting in with Terry, the Portland stuff, you saw some of that in the second half,” Steve Kerr said after Wednesday's win over the Kings.

Second-year guard Brandin Podziemski also made sure to give Stotts a shoutout in the post-game, adding, “he drew up some good stuff out of timeouts that gave us some easy looks."

Stotts was a noted offensive tactician during his nine-year tenure as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers -- eight of which included making the playoffs. Led by Stotts and the back-court duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, the Trail Blazers finished top three in offensive rating in each of his last three years as coach. That period also included a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2019 where Portland lost to Golden State.

Without a noted second offensive co-star alongside Stephen Curry, the Warrior offense is going to have to be produced by committee if they hope to be top 10 in the league on that end of the floor. Stotts will be integral in that, and if Wednesday's game is anything to go by, he might be the secret weapon Golden State have to unlock more efficient offense than previously thought possible.