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| Not sure how I feel about the new Uniforms yet. Better than the last ones at least. |
2009-10 Record: 26-56
Additions: Guber & Lacob (Owners), Keith Smart (Coach), David Lee (Sign-and-Trade), Charlie Bell (Trade), Dan Gadzuric (Trade), Dorell Wright (FA), Ekpe Udoh (Draft), Jeremy Lin (FA), Lou Amundson (FA)
Subtractions: Chris Cohan, Don Nelson, Corey Maggette, Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Randolph, Devean George, C.J. Watson, Anthony Morrow, Chris Hunter, Anthony Tolliver
The Warriors had an eventful offseason, starting with sending Corey Maggette to Milwaukee, and then with Chris Cohan finally selling the team, and finally ending with Don Nelson's firing. By far the biggest acquisition was that of David Lee, with the Warriors sacrificing some depth and potential to get him, but he's a huge upgrade at that position.
The biggest problem with Golden State last year was definitely injuries. The team had 49 different starting lineups, and at one point had so few healthy players that Don Nelson actually had to play someone that already had 6 fouls. The Warriors used various D-League call ups to provide depth, and actually struck a bit of gold in finding Reggie Williams, who ended up being a great contributor to the Warriors towards the end of the season.
In the draft, the Warriors opted for 23 year old Ekpe Udoh, who subsequently suffered from the Warriors big man curse and tore some ligaments in his wrist, sidelining him for 6 months. He was taken as a player that would be able to contribute immediately, so not having him now sort of sucks.
Stephen Curry has taken over the reins of the franchise from Monta Ellis rather quickly, having perhaps the best last two months of any rookie in the NBA last year, which got him Rookie of the Year consideration. He fell short to Tyreke Evans' incredible year long consistency, but there is no doubt that Curry is an amazing talent and a cornerstone for the Warriors to build around. He'll have high expectations this year to improve on his stellar rookie year.
Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins are now the "old vets" of the group and its a bit unclear what their future with the organization will be. Ellis is a terrific scorer and not much else, and Biedrins had a pretty disappointing year last year. Both are on expensive and long contracts, but both are starting caliber players for the team and not easily traded away (that's partially because of the contracts and injury history, maybe even mostly). Still, with Ellis and Curry in the backcourt, opposing defenses will have a tough time stopping just one of them, let alone both. And Biedrins is a great rebounder and shotblocker, who if he can remain healthy this year will bolster the Warriors presence in the middle.
David Lee was a great pickup for the Dubs in my opinion because he fits their system perfectly. A lot of people always say how Lee's stats were inflated in New York with D'Antoni, but the fact of the matter is that this wasn't true, since D'Antoni's Knicks only played at around the 8th highest pace in the league at 94.0 possessions a game last year. That's a tad higher than the average, but not by much. The biggest thing Lee will be able to give the Warriors is his rebounding. The Warriors were last in the league in rebounding and rebound differential last year, and now with Biedrins hopefully heathy and Lee at the 4, that should start to change a bit. Also, Lee provides them with a big man that can score, something the Warriors haven't had in seemingly forever. His passing game is also a plus, and Lee and Curry pick and rolls should be a healthy amount of the plays run this year and in the future.
The Warriors did lose a bit of depth from last year, but that depth was largely on paper due to all the injuries. Wright could be a good pickup, but he'll hardly be the sharpshooter that Morrow was, or the ball handler that Watson was. Gadzuric and Bell were a way to split Maggette's contract up, but even together they won't provide near the production Maggette did. Brandan Wright is supposedly finally healthy, but we'll have to wait and see on that, just like the last few years. Jeremy Lin will be popular in Golden State, but he probably won't see too much playing time outside of injuries to Curry or Ellis. Lou Amundson was a great pickup though, and he'll help fill and probably exceed Ronny Turiaf's role.
The play of the Warriors this year all depends on health. They'll probably be one of, if not the most, high octane offense in the game, but also one of the worst defenses again as well. Lee will help them remain consistent and not fall behind on the boards, but as was evident in New York, he can't be relied on to carry the load by himself. Luckily with Curry, Ellis and Williams, he'll have plenty of offensive help. Games will be exciting this year, but I don't know how much this will lead to wins. I don't expect many more wins than last year, although I do expect more wins.
Projected Win Range: 30-35
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