TheStig wrote:I don't know if they win another ring but I think they will continue to be a really good team in the West. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them flip Russel and/or Green.
I guess it depends what you define as good. I do not think the Warriors will get out of the second round in the next five years and would set their over/under on playoff series wins over that time period at 2.
I could be wrong of course. I would say the following things are going to happen over the next year:
1: Steph Curry will begin struggling to stay healthy
With Durant gone and Klay gone to start the season, there will be an enormous burden on Steph to create shots. The whole league saw the Raptors go box and 1 and dare the Warriors to beat them and found them unable to do so. I think Steph is going to be overloaded with coverage due to the lack of quality teammates around him (particularly shooters) and will wear down due to that burden as well as just put up the least efficient numbers we've seen in a long time.
2: Klay Thompson will not be effective this season
Klay seems like a gamer, but we've seen that guys typically need closer to 18 months to hit their peak after an ACL surgery and that peak is likely lower than it was prior to surgery, especially for a guy who will be 30 before he suits up for another game. This isn't like a much younger guy tearing his. I'd guess we never see Klay at anything close to the level he was before. He may still be a deadly shooter, but his defense will likely tick downward considerably as will his ability to drive making him closer to a Kyle Korver type player than a superstar.
3: Draymond Green won't look nearly so useful as people
He'll do the same things he's always done, but his offensive limitations will be more glaring with only one great scorer on the floor with him. People will look for Green to do more and find that in the end, offensively he probably can't. His defense will continue its decline due to age. Similar to Ben Wallace, at his core, he's still pretty undersized to do a lot of what he does. Unlike Ben Wallace, Green doesn't run with like 2-3% body fat and will likely slow down much sooner.
If I go out two years, Klay should be playing a bit better, but Curry/Green continue to decline, and the salaries will make it difficult to do much else to add to the team.
I think what could mitigate many of these problems are if D'Angelo Russell finds an efficient offensive game to help take that burden as another scorer over. His questionable fit next to Curry will make that more of a challenge, but if Russell can step up from where he was last year to a legit top 20 type talent then a lot of the above can be mitigated considerably.