Warriors beat writer shares his thoughts on the Warriors and beyond.
Much of Golden State’s optimism rests on the three veterans they acquired this offseason: De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson. Each very well could contribute in the way the Warriors’ best teams of the past decade relied on valuable, experienced role players.
Hield might be the closest movement shooter to Klay Thompson there is. Melton, a smooth shooter and elite on-ball defender, might be the best fit in the backcourt next to Steph Curry.
But Anderson might just be the perfect Warrior. As if he was made in a laboratory funded by Steve Kerr.
As a rookie in 2014, Anderson joined a Spurs team coming off their fifth title. He played with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and for Gregg Popovich. Basically, he started his career with the Warriors’ spirit animal.
A smart player who can impact a game without scoring, Anderson’s basketball I.Q. has been praised by Popovich, Nikola Jokic and Kerr.
At 6-foot-9, Anderson can defend 1-through-5. That’s not hyperbolic; Anderson can hold his own against centers. Anderson is scrappy and a tremendous defender — two of the biggest buzzwords Kerr uses while hoping to establish the team’s identity.
“Small-ball center for sure,” Kerr said of Anderson. “Maybe with Draymond — Draymond’s probably not going to play 82 games. I feel really well equipped to handle an absence from Draymond with Kyle because he plays a similar style. He’s different, but very cerebral, passing, playmaker. We need that.”
Anderson spent the offseason retooling his jump shot, which betrayed him last year after he shot 40% the season prior (on low volume). He’s far from a knockdown shooter, but keeping defenses honest could go a long way.
Offensively, Anderson plays a bruising, physical, and, yes, slow style. Golden State is where unique players like him go to flourish.
Playoff experience. Versatility. Smarts. Passing. Toughness. It’s easy to see why Golden State targeted him this summer.
Anderson could average seven points per game and be the most valuable contributor among Warriors newbies.
Melton perennially ranks among the defensive win shares leaders and Hield is second to only Curry in 3-point makes since 2016, but neither of them check off as many boxes as Anderson does.
The Warriors’ key to getting Jonathan Kuminga minutes at small forward involves playing Anderson in the front court — with or without Draymond Green. Before training camp began, Green told Anderson, “You’re not a guard no more, you’re a center in this offense.”
Anderson is going to fit. Hield and Melton are going to play roles, too, and they even have clearer paths to starting. But Anderson has a tremendous chance at being a Kerr — and fan — favorite.
Klay check-in
There’s a sense that everyone with the Warriors is happy for Klay Thompson. With the Mavericks, the Golden State legend has a fresh start and an opportunity to compete for a championship.
Just how difficult was the end for Thompson in Golden State?
“The last two years were so tough for me, ‘cause like, you try to measure yourself to what you were, and like, all the accomplishments and all that, and I let so much other crap get into my head, and I forgot why I really play this game,” Thompson told content creator Tristan Jass.
Thompson was definitely in his own head, and suffering from being too online. We’ve all been there.
What’s a shame is that Thompson was in an ecosystem with support. Nobody talks about the “joy” of basketball and playing the game for the right reasons more than Kerr. He and Thompson had conversations about the very topic.
Sometimes, even that’s not enough.
In time, everyone will forget how rough Thompson’s last year with the Warriors was. He’ll get a statue and his number retired. He’s a Hall of Famer and a singular figure in Golden State’s history.
A change of scenery was necessary, but it brought him across enemy lines.
“We’re going to miss him, but excited to kick his ass pretty soon,” Gary Payton II said at Media Day.
All The Smoke
When Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson were helping lead the 2006-07 “We Believe” Warriors, nobody could have imagined that years later, they’d host a podcast with presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Back then, the Apple Podcasts app didn’t yet exist. Harris was the San Francisco district attorney. The country had still yet to elect a Black president.
In their interview, Harris — an Oakland native — recalled taking BART to Warriors games at Oracle Arena and shared her thoughts on how the city is now left without any major professional teams.
“Oh, it breaks my heart,” Harris said. “Remember we used to have all of them. All of them. And you’d just drive by that area, when I go to Oakland and I go to the Bay Area, you’d land at the Oakland airport and pass the Coliseum…It was part of the economic engine of Oakland. The vendors, local folks, it was small businesses. I’m always going to think the Golden State Warriors: That’s Oakland.”
The Kuminga conundrum
The way things are shaping up, the Warriors seem likely to start a traditional center — likely Trayce Jackson-Davis — next to Draymond Green. If not start with a two-big pair, then play the majority of minutes with it.
That very well could leave Kuminga out of the starting unit; Andrew Wiggins is just too valuable as the team’s top perimeter defender to bring off the bench.
Kuminga would also be better suited to lead a second unit than Wiggins. He’s a more aggressive, natural scorer and playing with reserves would give the Warriors a chance to feature him as the primary option for stretches.
But even if he looks like he’s getting squeezed out, and even if he might work well as a sixth man, it’s not that simple. Remember when Kuminga “lost faith” in Kerr last year?
What happens to Kuminga’s faith if Golden State brings him off the bench this season, while he’s in a contract year? Can the Warriors in good conscience consider Kuminga a $30-plus million player but also not worthy of starting?
Kerr has had to navigate a lot of tough situations over the past decade. He’s relishing the opportunity to hold competitions for starting slots, but that doesn’t mean this is going to be easy.