Will the Warriors win the West with a healthy Klay?

[Bankai]

Not sure about winning the West, but they will be a dangerous top team. Curry, Klay, and Dray is already a Championship trio, but they also have Wiggins to help and #2 Pick Wiseman, can only get better, they are a threat everywhere. For such a dominant team for the last couple of years, they are oddly being slept on.

[Kobe187]

Will depend on what version of Klay comes back. They’re a fun team to watch, pass the ball very well, impressed with the youngster Poole.

[righterwriter]

Will depend on what version of Klay comes back. They’re a fun team to watch, pass the ball very well, impressed with the youngster Poole.

I think Klay will likely be a part-time player as the team is very careful with him. Could see him playing like 20-25 mpg but being REALLY good in those minutes.

Lots of guys come back from an achilles injury. KD is the latest example, and he was the most lethal scorer in the playoffs last year.

[Impuniti]

Will depend on what version of Klay comes back. They’re a fun team to watch, pass the ball very well, impressed with the youngster Poole.

I think Klay will likely be a part-time player as the team is very careful with him. Could see him playing like 20-25 mpg but being REALLY good in those minutes.

Lots of guys come back from an achilles injury. KD is the latest example, and he was the most lethal scorer in the playoffs last year.

For a first year, I would take the OG Klay on a 20-25MPG without a second notice.

[WarriorGM]

I'm still mystified what the argument against them doing so is.

[Impuniti]

he hasnt played basketball in 3 yrs and that much older. even if klay was 100% healthy he is going to be 70% effective from prime.

him being on the floor makes Curry even more dangerous, teams still have to respect Klay shooting. You can't double or triple-team Curry like teams were doing last year... opens driving lanes for Wiggins, easy lobs for Wiseman, Looney etc

Even if Loon has an easy dunk, he will pump fake 3 to 6 times while always looking like he has to run to the bathroom and take the biggest **** of his life.

[righterwriter]

he hasnt played basketball in 3 yrs and that much older. even if klay was 100% healthy he is going to be 70% effective from prime.

him being on the floor makes Curry even more dangerous, teams still have to respect Klay shooting. You can't double or triple-team Curry like teams were doing last year... opens driving lanes for Wiggins, easy lobs for Wiseman, Looney etc

Even if Loon has an easy dunk, he will pump fake 3 to 6 times while always looking like he has to run to the bathroom and take the biggest **** of his life.

When Looney got drafted his thing was apparently shooting 3's and being able to handle a bit outside.

That's definitely not what we got, but good for him for finding a place in the league and staying in his lane. Not many guys can own up to the fact that they need to just be a role player.

What's kind of insane is that he's only 25 years old!

[ShootersShoot]

Im so lost.

Yall called it a G league roster ALL DAMN YEAR....but adding Klay to it makes it a contender??? Is he the real MVP?

Adding Bjelica, Otto Porter, Iguodala, a matured Poole, and yes Klay Thompson....in place of Bazemore, Oubre, Wanamaker, Nico Mannion, and Mychal Mulder, will make a team better.

I don’t see a big difference between the two minus a healthy Klay and better Poole.

Well for one, the shooting is a lot better. Porter/Bjeli are both 39-40% career three point shooters. Collectively the group of porter/iggy/bjeli have way more starting experience and impact as players over their careers than baze/oubre, wanamaker or whoever else you want to add. A young player like poole going from decent bench scorer to starting level player would be a sizable upgrade for any type of team.

[ShootersShoot]

Im so lost.

Yall called it a G league roster ALL DAMN YEAR....but adding Klay to it makes it a contender??? Is he the real MVP?

Adding Bjelica, Otto Porter, Iguodala, a matured Poole, and yes Klay Thompson....in place of Bazemore, Oubre, Wanamaker, Nico Mannion, and Mychal Mulder, will make a team better.

I don’t see a big difference between the two minus a healthy Klay and better Poole.

Well for one, the shooting is a lot better. Porter/Bjeli are both 39-40% career three point shooters. Compare that to bazemore and Oubre who are 36 and 32% career three point shooters respectively.

Collectively the group of porter/iggy/bjeli has more starting experience and impact as players over their careers than baze/oubre, wanamaker or whoever else you want to add. You can tell watching the games that the ball movement, shot creation, and BBIQ is vastly improved off the bench from the previous season.

A young player like poole going from decent bench scorer to starting level player would be a sizable upgrade for any type of team. People like to downplay internal growth sometimes..Poole is going from sophomore year to third year, there is going to be a good amount of growth/improvement as a player happening for him and there's enough evidence to think he can actually be a solid starting player. I'm not saying he's there yet, but he looks the part for now. And of course that growth happening over the season is going be more impactful than what he was giving last year.

Also the morale that comes from knowing klay will be back some time this year is probably lifting the team up a bit.

[HEAT33]

If Klay is 100%, they are contenders and will finish top 4 seed in the west.

[CS707]

Given the parameters in the OP it's a reasonable possibility. I don't think it's a realistic premise though.

[Flash Falcon X]

Warriors have a better supporting cast compared to the last 2 seasons.

People laugh at how their offseason additions were minimum guys like Iguodala, Bjelica and Porter Jr. but sometimes you don't need to add superstars to make a huge difference on your team.

Warriors needed shooters who can hit open shots, and vet experience. They added that now. Last season, the team could get open shots but couldn't make them aside from Steph. This season, Porter Jr and Bjelica can just stand in the corner and hitting an open 3 makes a world of a difference. On top of that, both guys fit in the system perfectly because they know how to move the ball around. On other teams both Porter Jr and Bjelica couldn't excel due to either injuries or they weren't in the right system, but in Kerr's offense they're perfect.

Not to mention Iguodala is back. Obviously not a scorer, but he adds that experience the team lacked off the bench the past 2 seasons--he knows the system like the back of his hand and serves as the vet playmaker.

Then there's the young guys who are getting better. Jordan Poole is better this year by default simply because he has more experience now.

So much better compared to last season when Steph played with an injured G-League team with rarely any experience, Kelly Oubre Jr. providing nothing on offense, and Steph himself getting injured with his tailbone injury (GSW would have at least been 5th or 6th seed if Steph wasn't hurt.)

All in all, there's definitely Top 3 seed potential from Golden State, even without Klay. The team is deeper and more experienced and Steph isn't slowing down. That's all I'll say for now and it will be interesting to bump this thread midseason and then after the regular season. See you guys then.

Boy was I wrong.

[Flash Falcon X]

Warriors have a better supporting cast compared to the last 2 seasons.

People laugh at how their offseason additions were minimum guys like Iguodala, Bjelica and Porter Jr. but sometimes you don't need to add superstars to make a huge difference on your team.

Warriors needed shooters who can hit open shots, and vet experience. They added that now. Last season, the team could get open shots but couldn't make them aside from Steph. This season, Porter Jr and Bjelica can just stand in the corner and hitting an open 3 makes a world of a difference. On top of that, both guys fit in the system perfectly because they know how to move the ball around. On other teams both Porter Jr and Bjelica couldn't excel due to either injuries or they weren't in the right system, but in Kerr's offense they're perfect.

Not to mention Iguodala is back. Obviously not a scorer, but he adds that experience the team lacked off the bench the past 2 seasons--he knows the system like the back of his hand and serves as the vet playmaker.

Then there's the young guys who are getting better. Jordan Poole is better this year by default simply because he has more experience now.

So much better compared to last season when Steph played with an injured G-League team with rarely any experience, Kelly Oubre Jr. providing nothing on offense, and Steph himself getting injured with his tailbone injury (GSW would have at least been 5th or 6th seed if Steph wasn't hurt.)

All in all, there's definitely Top 3 seed potential from Golden State, even without Klay. The team is deeper and more experienced and Steph isn't slowing down. That's all I'll say for now and it will be interesting to bump this thread midseason and then after the regular season. See you guys then.

still pretty much excuses. improvement to fit steph but nonetheless these guys are all 15th men vet min guys you dont rise 8 spots for marginal upgrades. i dont think healthy klay exists but for sake of argument 90% klay playing 30 games jump from playin team to top 4 is laughable. west is weak than ever but not that bad warriors are level of dallas mavericks good enough to avoid playins.

unless i see warriors make franchise move like upgrading green to simmons, they should not make top 4 in 90% of the 2k scenario. they are 2-0 but thats more of a fluke not proving why they are elite title contenders. poole needs more help with steph likely playing worse than last yrs scoring title and all the rookies sucking like g leaguers.

“excuses” huh

Nothing in my post was outrageous.

I never said anything crazy like Porter Jr needed to become an 25PPG All-Star or for Iggy to play like a Finals MVP or for Klay to score 60 points in 3 quarters…

The post was simply mentioning that the Warriors added key bench pieces who add value from experience and ability to hit corner threes.

Then Poole who gets better by default due to more experience…

No need for home run moves to improve.

Anyone who actually watches basketball shouldn’t be surprised by this now. If people watched basketball last year, they would have seen how GSW ended the 2020-2021 season on a hot streak and made sure to get rid of the bad pieces in the offseason (e.g. Bazemore, Oubre, etc.) while adding small improvements here and there (Porter Jr, Nemanja, Iggy, GP2, etc.) while understanding that younger guys like Poole will continue to develop.

[mcmurphy]

unless i see warriors make franchise move like upgrading green to simmons, they should not make top 4 in 90% of the 2k scenario.

best sentence of 2021

[WarriorGM]

Threads like this one show who has a clue and who really doesn't.

[Flash Falcon X]

Threads like this one show who has a clue and who really doesn't.

Exactly.

Klay shoots.

People act like Klay was a prime Dominique Wilkins who needed ultra athleticism to score 20+PPG.

I agree with the concerns about his defense after the injuries, but he’s still a huge threat due to his shooting ability and it results in defenses scrambling having to worry about both Steph and Klay and now Poole (who I’ve been saying since the offseason was going to have a breakout year.)