For the first time since 2010/11, when a sophomore Stephen Curry shared a backcourt with Monta Ellis, the revolutionary Warriors guard will go into a season without Klay Thompson. Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic details just what’s in store for him and for the franchise heading forward.
Not only will Curry have to shoulder more of the scoring load without Thompson and Kevin Durant, two of the game’s deadliest offensive weapons, he’ll need to do so after everybody and their grandmother saw Raptors coach Nick Nurse employ a successful series of zones against the Warriors.
Those are new questions that Curry will have to answer, but they aren’t the first questions he’s ever faced. This, Thompson writes, isn’t the guard’s first gut-check offseason. Curry has established and re-established his value after injuries and previous Warriors titles and will look to do so again.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Expect the Suns to either keep their No. 6 pick or look to trade down in the draft, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 Phoenix tweets. The dialed-in radio host says that he can’t envision the team dealing that pick for players like Lonzo Ball, Mike Conley or Spencer Dinwiddie.
- The Kings have announced that they’ll welcome another batch of prospects for a workout on Monday. The franchise that picks at 40, 47 and 60 will audition Shamorie Ponds, Jaylen Hands and a handful of other candidates.
- Did Kelly Oubre do enough in his 40-game trial with the Suns this season? Bobby Marks of ESPN writes that Oubre played some of his best basketball in Phoenix after coming over from the Wizards and the Suns were wise to nab him when they did. Phoenix will have the flexibility match an offer sheet the restricted free agent lands and they’ll have his Bird rights.
+40M reasons to help curry shoulder the burden is why he gets the big bux
Box and 1 undefeated
You missed game 5?
What about game 6. If it wasn’t for Thompson injury we would be getting ready for a game 7.
Deangalo should sign with the suns and team up with booker. Lefty/righty combo guards with ayton and 4 wings to will in. Could be a solid 6-8 seed next year
Fill in^
True
Nurse just double and tripled Curry. He knew that besides Curry there was no offense on the floor. Warriors made a big mistake in not having any offensive players on the bench. Still puzzling why Lee was not on the active roster who can hit 3s instead they went with Evans who is not a offensive player.
Thought Provoking Alert: what if…the Warriors trade Steph Curry for the #1 pick, draft Zion Williamson. Then make a play to get Bol Bol. Then, go all in and sign Kawai Leonard. Kawai, Zion. Bol Bol and you save a ton of money!
Also you let Durant and allay walk
I hate and also love this.
If you double and triple team any shooter, they won’t be able to thrive. Without the threat of Durant’s midrange and Klay out late in game 6, GSW’s offense was sunk.
They’ll have a lot of available minutes this year. I see them doing what the rockets did last year. Sign a bunch of guys at the minimum and see what sticks around your star guard
NBA finals: the Warriors lost 4-2, but the Road Warriors won 5-1.
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Seems like a postup game or at least an inside-to-outside game would beat a box-and-one. Robin Lopez has been penciled in for their MLE for some time, though that was before GSW’s sudden reduction of 3pt shooters. They may just have to be different next year. They have always cut well. A Lopez/Draymond pairing should be fruitful.
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I doubt Cousins is the rehab partner that Durant might look forward to. Klay, yes. Silver lining. Drop Cousins, sign RLopez.
You do realize that DMC with a torn achilles & in crutches still is waaay better than RoLo, right?
I mean RoLo is a good back up, DMC is one of the best centers in league history!
DMC aint the guy post-injury tho….
I was mostly referring to personalities, Durant being very chill.
Over the last few years the Warriors have had numerous injuries on the season – Curry’s ankles, Thompson broke his thumb, etc. They are used to playing long stretches and winning without all their players.
Counterpoint: they have never won a thing without all their players, they are built top-heavy and lost a title because Draymond couldnt keep his mouth shut.