SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors are ready for Monday’s media day and training camp in Hawaii shortly thereafter with the offseason in their rearview.
The summer’s action, or inaction, has amounted to the departure of franchise icon Klay Thompson, the additions of Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton and Buddy Hield, a one-year extension for Steph Curry and the hiring of assistant coaching Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse. Those are the broad strokes for a team that finished 10th in a Western Conference that only looks more loaded this year — albeit with a respectable 46 wins.
The decision-makers know they must maximize what’s left of a 36-year-old Curry’s superstar play, and reportedly tried to swing trades for Paul George and Lauri Markkanen. General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. and head coach Steve Kerr are happy with the team ahead of the season, particularly its depth, but it’s clear that there remains work to be done.
“We’re probably as impatient as a franchise as you can be right now given our time horizon and all that,” Dunleavy said Thursday at a news conference. “But there’s a fine line between impatience and undisciplined. I think I feel good about the discipline that we held this summer and the roster we built and the growth from within that we’re going to have.”
Dunleavy, entering his second season as general manager, is operating from a position of relative strength. He executed a historically complicated trade that netted Hield and Anderson for Thompson, selected stretch-center Quinten Post with the 52nd overall pick after several draft-day moves, dipped under the prohibitive first salary apron and maintained Golden State’s best trade assets.
Golden State has a chance to come together, coalescing around a revamped defense and tweaks to Kerr’s motion offense. It also has the chance to turn into something quite different with an in-season trade or two.
“You’re always looking to get better, improve your team,” Dunleavy said. “I think we’ve got a lot of ways to do that. We’ve got a lot of good basketball players, and then on top of it, we’ve got most of our assets. We’ve got ways to improve. We’ll be aggressive. That’s kind of always been the deal here, at least as long as I’ve been here.”
One of the biggest cases for the Warriors to make a big trade is their apparent lack of a No. 2 scorer next to Curry. It was an issue last year and the offseason additions don’t address it.
If Dunleavy and Kerr are to be taken at face value, the organization seems to have a preference as to who steps into that role.
“I’m expecting a big year from (Andrew Wiggins),” Kerr said. “I think there’s also a void that is left by Klay’s absence that we need to fill. That’s a lot of points to score. But it also means we have to rethink how we’re doing things, and Wiggs will be featured for sure. He’s a guy who’s proven. He’s a 20-point-a-night guy, and we’re going to be relying on him heavily.”
An All-Star two years ago, Wiggins averaged a career-low 13.2 points per game last season. Kerr said he looks fantastic and at 29 years old is still in his physical prime.
“He sounds very motivated,” Kerr said. “He’s very much at peace. I think he’s in a place where he knows the last couple years have been tough for a lot of reasons, and I think he’s primed to get back to where he was a couple years ago.”
Other candidates to step up as a reliable second option include Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, the team’s brightest young pieces. Kuminga made a significant leap last year, bumping his scoring average up to 16.1 points per game and Podziemski was a first-team All-Rookie selection who will be empowered to create even more with the ball in his hands.
Balancing different lineup combinations among a dozen capable players, as he did with Team USA in the Olympics, will be Kerr’s job. He says starting lineup spots are up for grabs. The team is fully healthy, and the coach can treat the roster like a meritocracy in training camp and as the preseason progresses. Young players could emerge as consistent two-way players, the offseason acquisitions could all fall into place and contribute and Draymond Green could keep himself available.
Or, the front office could eventually consolidate depth and future draft capital for an external talent upgrade.
“I think this team can be really good,” Dunleavy said. “Hard to put a number on how good we can be. … It’s probably a wide range of outcomes. But if things don’t go well, the good news is we’ve got a deep team. We’ve got other ways to pivot. We’ve got optionality.”
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— Dunleavy said that the team has had positive dialogue with Kuminga, Moses Moody and their representatives about potential contract extensions. The deadline for reaching an agreement with either player is Oct. 21.
“Regardless of whether we get something done or not, we want those guys here,” the GM said. “Just because you don’t get an extension done doesn’t mean they’re not going to be here for a long time. We’ll still have their rights in free agency if we can’t come to an agreement by the 21st.”
— Tacking on an extra year to Curry’s deal was a “no-brainer” for Dunleavy. Curry, whom Dunleavy tabbed the greatest face of a franchise in sports, will earn $62.6 million in 2026-27.
— One key for the Warriors, Kerr and Dunleavy agreed, is revamping the defense. Dunleavy said Golden State must be in the top seven “at least” defensively, and Kerr is focused on addressing a transition defense he said “fell off the map.” Anderson, Melton and a healthy Gary Payton II should help, but the Warriors have a way to go; they finished 15th in defensive rating last season.
