Can The Wounded Golden State Warriors Still Contend In The West?

This image is a derivative of 2013 Golden State Warriors by Michael Tipton (CC BY-SA 2.0)

A basketball dynasty appears to have ended with unprecedented speed.

Heading into the 2019 Finals, the Warriors were on the brink of their fourth title in five years, in their fifth straight Finals appearance. Kevin Durant was expected to leave, but Stephen Curry was still just 31 and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both 29. The historic, unfair juggernaut - surely the greatest team of all-time - would recede, replaced by a more human and reasonable contender in the West.

The chaos that ensued in Games 5 and 6 of the Finals has no parallel. Durant tore his achilles, then Thompson tore his ACL. Title aspirations for 2020 went with Thompson's knee and Durant's eye for Brooklyn. The Warriors still had Curry and Green, and made a strange pivot to D'Angelo Russell, but the rest of the roster was a mess and defensively unsalvageable. 

The sample was small, but in Golden State's first four games last season, before Curry broke his hand, they were impressively bad. Their 118.5 defensive rating was worst in the league, and their overall -11.5 net rating third worst. That team, though, never made sense. Russell was a poor running mate for Curry, there was no bench, and Glenn Robinson and a broken Kevon Looney started on opening night.

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2020-21 was set to be a return to the highest bounds of relevance, an ageing throwback to the glory of the pre-Durant Warriors. There have been better teams, but maybe none who have played with the mesmerising joy and energy that the Warriors did across Steve Kerr's first two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16. 

Curry is the most magical player in basketball history and to watch him at his peak, so well complemented by Thompson's movement and gravity and the passing of Green, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut and Shaun Livingston, was a sporting feast.

That is all gone now, with Thompson tearing his achilles and lost again. The first thought is that the Warriors are probably ruined - for this year and beyond. Thompson immediately vaults into the Russell Westbrook/John Wall level of torturous contracts around the league, though his shooting and size will hopefully prevent him from the depths that Westbrook and Wall are set for.

The Warriors, to their credit, whether through blind desperation or calculated ambition, are not buying into the despair. As soon as Thompson went down, they traded for Kelly Oubre, at significant luxury tax cost, to replace his scoring. They made savvy additions in free agency at the edge of the roster, bringing in Brad Wanamaker and Kent Bazemore. 

This team, while diminished, is not a write-off. The roster around Curry and Green makes infinitely greater sense than last year's. 

Oubre and Andrew Wiggins give the Warriors size and length on the perimeter that they didn’t have last year alongside Curry. Number two pick James Wiseman is a trump card - who may give them nothing this year, but has the talent to give them the hope of another immediate dimension.

As running mates to Curry and Green, Oubre and Wiggins make much more sense than Russell ever did. They're young and athletic, with size and pace that will help Golden State be a terror in transition again. Playing next to Curry will make them look better than they ever have.

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Curry is still the key to everything. This will be the greatest test yet of his value - how far his defence-shattering gravity can take a team that lacks other stars. It's not the fairest test, given he'll soon be 33, but having barely played in 18 months he will be fresh and surely invigorated. Green better be too, if the defence is to stay above water. 

The team is still imperfect, with too much hinging on Wiseman, and not as much shooting as you would want from the Oubre and Wiggins spots. Depth will be an ongoing issue - if Green misses any time they're in trouble, and if Curry is out, they're finished.

But the sight of Curry on the floor gives the hope every game that you will see something you've never seen before - shots and contortions from alien angles and locations. Feathery dominance that can't be touched or impeded. 

With Curry on the roster, and competence around him, there is the hope that his team can still be taken as far as his shot.

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