Five big questions for the Warriors after Thompson's exit, new signings
-
Kendra Andrews, ESPN
For the first time since 2011, the Golden State Warriors are in an offseason without guard Klay Thompson on their roster, after the four-time NBA champion joined the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade deal in July.
Thompson’s exit marked the end of an era in the Bay. The Warriors still have Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, along with coach Steve Kerr, but the roster will have some new faces hoping to lead Golden State back to the Western Conference playoffs after a play-in tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings last season.
Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton were brought in after Thompson’s departure. The Warriors were in talks with the Utah Jazz for All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen, but those stalled. The Warriors will have much to figure out as they try to maximize what’s left of their championship-winning core.
Here are the biggest questions and a look at where things stand during a pivotal offseason for the Warriors.
Will the Warriors make moves after Lauri Markkanen talks fell apart?
The Warriors are preparing to move forward with the 15-man roster they currently have.
Sources told ESPN that trade talks with Utah over Markkanen diminished in the wake of the Jazz asking for second-year guard and All-Rookie Brandin Podziemski in a potential deal, as well as multiple draft picks. Golden State has only two available unprotected firsts (a combination of 2025 and 2027, or 2026 and 2028) and a 2030 first if it falls in the top 20.
The Warriors are holding high value in their younger pieces, sources told ESPN, including Podziemski and fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga. Any trade incorporating either player would have to help with the long-term success of the team more than they would, sources added.
Golden State intends to hold onto those players “very tightly,” and anything to loosen the grip on them would have to be an “overwhelming offer.”
Sources also told ESPN that what the Jazz were asking for in return for Markkanen made it a “bad deal” for the Warriors, and the talks stalled.
On Wednesday, Markkanen agreed to a five-year, $238 million contract renegotiation and extension with the Jazz, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The new deal precludes Markkanen from being traded for six months — which pushes him past Feb. 6 deadline and means he isn’t eligible to be moved until next offseason.
The Warriors don’t feel there’s overwhelming pressure to make another move. Currently, there are no players who are “reasonably available” that the Warriors are “hot on,” according to team sources, who say they have already made the necessary moves to improve on their disappointing season.
How will the Warriors’ new players fit after Thompson’s exit?
Thompson’s departure, as well as the release of Chris Paul before his $30 million deal became guaranteed, allowed Golden State to get under the $178.7 million luxury tax threshold — which was a priority for the Warriors’ ownership group.
After having spent $677 million in penalties since the 2013-14 season and being in the tax four out of the past six seasons, a front office source told ESPN that having financial flexibility was “actually really fun.”
That allowed Anderson and Hield to join the Warriors as part of Thompson’s sign-and-trade deal (which involved six teams) from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. Melton also came from Philadelphia as a free agent, signing a $12.8 million midlevel taxpayer exception.
The top attribute the team was looking for in replacing Thompson and Paul was scoring, which their three new players, especially Hield, should improve.
Since entering the NBA in 2016-17, Hield has the second-most made 3-pointers during that span (1,924), which trails only his new backcourt partner, Curry (2,154). Hield’s 1,295 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers are also ahead of both Curry and Thompson during that span.
Hield also leads the league in 3-pointers since the start of the 2019-20 season (1,322) and said he feels he’ll fit in with the Warriors.
“I watched these guys play my whole [time] in college, even in the pros; when they play, they are a fun team to watch because of the ball movement and the way Steph, Draymond, Andrew [Wiggins] and the way coach Steve coaches,” Hield said in July. “I just feel that it’s a good fit, but everything takes time to learn it. It shouldn’t be that hard.”
Hield added there will be no pressure to replace Thompson.
“I loved watching him over the years, he’s special. The way he can get hot and the way he can change the game, the two-way player he is, the championship player he is,” Hield said. “So I don’t look at it as pressure, but I think it’ll be fun just being in that role and seeing if I can get the same looks he got.”
Anderson, fondly nicknamed Slo-Mo, has an uncanny handle and talked about his versatility in switching different positions on the court. But the 6-foot-9 swingman will also bring a defensive boost. According to Second Spectrum, opposing shooters recorded a 40.7% field-goal percentage when Anderson contested their shot in 2023-24. That ranked second among more than 200 defenders to contest at least 500 attempts last season.
Melton will also be relied upon to provide defense. His numbers won’t turn heads, but the Warriors hope he continues to be a top perimeter defender. He was one of six players to average over 1.5 steals per game each of the past two seasons.
How do Curry and Green feel about the Warriors’ changes?
Curry, Green and the Warriors have struck a balance as to how involved the stars want to be in the organization’s decisions.
Sources told ESPN that neither Curry nor Green want to be “final decision-makers” in regard to roster moves or transactions. But they do want to be consulted.
“Steph has said, ‘Look, I do not want to be making those decisions. It puts me in a different spot than all of my teammates. I do not want that,'” a source told ESPN.
Before Thompson decided to leave for Dallas, he asked his teammates to not go to ownership on his behalf. He asked them not to push the front office, or lobby for him to anyone in the organization. He just asked them to respect the decisions being made. And they did.
Curry and Green will be the first to say it feels weird that Thompson is gone. Ahead of Team USA’s run at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Curry told Andscape he hasn’t “figured out the emotions yet,” while Green told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth during summer league that he has been “suppressing my emotions.”
However, both stars say they are excited about the moves Golden State has made so far this summer, sources said.
Green’s near future seems set as the 34-year-old has two years remaining on the four-year, $100 million extension he signed in 2022.
Curry, 36, has a contract that would end after the 2025-26 season but is eligible to extend for an extra year for up to $62.2 million this summer. During summer league, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said that “will get figured out” and expressed confidence Curry “will be a Warrior for life.”
Sources added Curry and Green are exhibiting trust that what has happened this offseason can help the team — as long as the team remains competitive.
“I want to win. Let’s put it this way, it’s a long-winded way of saying that if it is a situation where you’re a bottom-feeder and it’s just because you want to stay there, I’d have a hard time with that,” Curry told Andscape. “But I don’t think that’s going to be the reality.”
What’s in store for Kuminga, Moses Moody and the other young Warriors?
Along with Curry, Dunleavy added two more names he wanted to extend: Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Both are poised to take on bigger roles with the Warriors this season, along with second-year players Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis who are now expected to remain on the roster.
But nothing will be handed to them, one source told ESPN. Besides Curry and Green, the three remaining spots in the Warriors’ starting lineup — as well as the rotation — will be considered “wide-open” heading into training camp, sources said.
Kuminga and Moody, who are each entering their fourth season in the league, are both eligible for five-year extensions in October. If neither signs an extension, they will become unrestricted free agents after next season. Kuminga is eligible to sign a five-year extension worth up to $224 million, while Moody’s deal could range from $11-13 million per season.
Conversations about those players’ extensions haven’t been at the forefront for the Warriors yet, but Dunleavy said, “That stuff will pick up.”
“We want those guys here,” Dunleavy said. “We believe in them, we drafted them.”
How will Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse fit on Steve Kerr’s coaching staff?
The Warriors had to fill two vacancies on their staff after Kenny Atkinson left to become the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic in February.
Kerr had relied on Atkinson — who had previously coached the Brooklyn Nets — to develop young players, as well as implement their defensive schemes.
The team will now replace those coaches with Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse. Front-office sources told ESPN that “diversifying” the staff and “bringing in new blood” was a necessary step.
Golden State will split up some of Atkinson’s former responsibilities. Stackhouse, who spent five seasons as head coach at Vanderbilt, will have a role with the defense, sources told ESPN, a position that former assistant Mike Brown had when he was with the Warriors.
Stackhouse will team up with longtime assistant coach Chris DeMarco, who has been involved with shaping the Warriors’ defense.
Stotts, who spent eight seasons as the Portland Trail Blazers‘ head coach from 2012 to 2021 before a brief stint as a Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach last season, will be more focused on helping the Warriors’ offense. He spent a season with the Warriors in 2004 as an assistant coach and is someone those within the organization feel “fits the Steve Kerr model of coaching.”
A source told ESPN they felt Stotts and Kerr were “kindred spirits,” and that Kerr has always appreciated Stotts’ offensive acumen and how he has communicated with players.
