One of the bigger moves from the NBA offseason was five-time All-Star guard Klay Thompson departing the Golden State Warriors for the Dallas Mavericks. After not being able to come to terms on a new contract, Thompson looked elsewhere for the first time in his 13-year NBA career.
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While losing Thompson does hurt the Warriors, they still have star point guard Steph Curry and Draymond Green leading the way. The organization has prioritized moves that they believe can help keep the championship window with Curry open.
The Warriors added multiple players to help negate the loss of Thompson. They signed shooting guard Buddy Hield, point guard De’Anthony Melton, and forward Kyle Anderson to help round out the roster.
According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, despite losing Thompson this summer, Golden State is of the mindset that they actually improved as a team.
“The Warriors believe they improved this summer, team sources emphasized, basing that partially on internal number models that gave a positive-value thumbs-up to the additions of Melton, Anderson, and Hield. A few analytics-driven employees from around the league agree. One rival’s metric model had Golden State fourth in the conference.”
The additions that the Warriors made in the aftermath of the Thompson departure give them much more depth than they have had in recent years. Hield provides the shooting touch that Thompson leaves, giving the Warriors another lethal scorer from beyond the arch.
Hield averaged 12.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists last season, splitting time between the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers. He shot 38.6 percent from deep, continuing his mark of shooting over 36 percent from 3-point land in each season of his career.
Melton put up 11.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game with the 76ers last season. He shot 36 percent from 3-point land, giving the Warriors another strong outside shooter.
Anderson posted 6.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game with the Minnesota Timberwolves. His shooting percentage from deep dropped dramatically down to 22.9 percent from his 41.0 percent mark in the previous year. Golden State must believe that he will regain his form from the outside as he is a career 33.8 percent shooter.
Along with forward Jonathan Kuminga, guard Brandin Podziemski, and veteran Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors could be a threat in the Western Conference. Golden State was a play-in team last season but will be looking to build upon that as they try for another title run.
