Kenji Collins: Well, one, it’s good to be back, but you need to do something with your career at least that we think is possible because they don’t really have any left here.
What should we expect out of the Warriors? The Warriors are an interesting team. They have one of the top young players in the NBA, Stephen Curry. The team also is very good defensively. They have a star in Andre Iguodala on an island.
As far as I know, I’m the only person who wrote this book with him having this kind of an MVP season. It’s really a question of how they go with the pieces they have.
Kevin Durant had the best season of his career, finishing second in MVP voting behind LeBron James. The Warriors finished the regular season second only to the Dallas Mavericks in NBA offensive efficiency. With a young superstar at the helm, how will they play together?
Brian Windhorst: It’s not really difficult to figure out. If Kevin Durant continues to improve and stay healthy, he’s one of the five best players in the NBA. If he can stay healthy the rest of the year, he can play alongside Curry, Iguodala and Harrison Barnes. Without Durant, they probably would have been fifth in defensive efficiency.
They’ve traded two of their top young players, Draymond Green and Monta Ellis, for a couple in Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes. That’s three quality perimeter players for three high-end young players (Green, Thompson and Barnes).
Iggy is getting traded to Phoenix, but they signed Andrew Bogut and David West to replace the two and added Shaun Livingston. That’s a total of 10 quality perimeter players with Bogut and David West. You’d have to ask the question of: Who is the point guard who can help defend Stephen Curry?
Then, once the Warriors get the defensive help they need, they should start getting a little more than just the two or three elite guys who can score the ball. If they were a little more consistent with their mid-range shooting, then they could really make hay out of their other assets.
So this can’t really be summed up as having a championship. So I guess you’ve got to call them the most fun team to watch this season.
The other question is whether they can win 55 games, and they’re definitely not