The Warriors hope their ‘disciplined’ offseason pays dividends this year
AP Sports Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After missing the playoffs for just the second time in more than a decade with a healthy Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors team never shy about making splashy additions might have been expected to pull off something big in the offseason.
They were linked to some potential big moves like a possible trade for Lauri Markkanen or Paul George but ended up settling for smaller additions that general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. believes will be enough to get Golden State back near the top of the Western Conference.
“We’re probably as impatient as a franchise as you can be right now given our time horizon and all that,” he said Thursday. “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.”
Golden State lost franchise pillar Klay Thompson and Chris Paul from a team that won 46 games and lost in the first round of the play-in tournament and added versatile guard De’Anthony Melton, top shooter Buddy Hield and veteran big man Kyle Anderson in smaller moves that still give the Warriors a chance to do something bigger if it materializes during the season.
But for now, Dunleavy wants to see what a roster led by Curry and Draymond Green, with a hopefully revitalized Andrew Wiggins and developing young players like Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Tracy Jackson-Davis, can do.
“We’ll take a look at it, see where we’re at,” Dunleavy said. “The good news is we’ve got plenty of ways to get better from the outside, but right now we’re fully behind this team, and we think they’re going to have a great year.”
Coach Steve Kerr is excited about the possibilities, but knows it could be a challenge at first trying to figure out the right combinations on a team that needs to replace the scoring of Thompson and is incorporating several new players.
But he said he has already sensed a good vibe from his players during summer workouts and believes Golden State might be better than outsiders think.
“I do think that we’ve been forgotten about a little bit,” he said. “It makes sense where we are. We didn’t make the playoffs last year. That’s how it works. But I’m excited. I think we were pretty good last year, and if you win 46, that means something. Normally that’s a five or six seed in the playoffs. I still think we’re really good. We’ll miss Chris and Klay, but it also opens up an opportunity to maybe play a little bit differently.”
It will all get started next week with the Warriors heading to Hawaii on Tuesday for the start of training camp. This will be the team’s first trip to Hawaii since 2007.
“It’ll be good for guys to get away,” Dunleavy said. “You get off that plane, the warm breeze blows in your face, and it’s just a good place to have training camp and get better. I’m glad we’re doing it. I’m not sure it’s going to be a regular thing, but on the whole we’re all pleased to be going.”
NOTES: Dunleavy said the team has no injury concerns to start training camp. … Dunleavy said the team is talking with representatives for Kuminga and Moody about signing them to extensions before a deadline on Oct. 21. He said if deals don’t get done by then, the team still wants to keep both players next summer.
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