Editor's Note: As the NBA season approaches and with NBA training camps opening up at the end of the month, Timberwolves.com wanted to give fans a little refresher on what has been a busy offseason. For the next two weeks, we'll be releasing season outlooks for teams throughout the NBA.
Overview: At the beginning of the 2013-14 season, the Golden State Warriors were a sneaky-pick by some to be a championship contender. They had great shooting with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. They had great defense with Thompson and center Andrew Bogut. It seemed like the pieces were in place.
While the team did win 51 games, it never seemed like one of the elite squads in basketball and that was proven in the playoffs when the team lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. The Warriors did, however, extend the series to seven games.
There seemed to be some unwanted friction between management and the Golden State coaching staff. Mark Jackson, known as a pretty vocal coach, had reported problems with assistant coach Brian Scalabrine and head consultant Jerry West. Because of this, and the fact Golden State wasn’t able to advance further in the playoffs, Jackson was fired after three seasons with the team.
Enter former sharpshooter Steve Kerr. This year’s roster looks similar to last year’s team, but with Kerr entering his first season as an NBA coach, there could be a few bumps along the way. The team did improve its depth, though, bringing in point guard Shaun Livingston from Brooklyn and point guard Brandon Rush from Utah.
Check out Golden State's top-10 plays from the 2013-14 season. Thanks to our friends at NBATV for this:
Record Last Season: 51-31
Key Additions: Shaun Livingston, Brandon Rush, Leandro Barbosa
Key Losses: Steve Blake, Jordan Crawford
How They Did Against the Wolves: The two teams faced off three times and the Warriors were 2-1 against the Wolves. Golden State won by an average of 11.5 points in the two victories. Curry averaged 23.3 points and 12.3 assists (most vs. any team) against the Wolves in those three games. Fellow Splash Brother Thompson averaged 22.8 points against the Wolves. Andre Iguodala averaged 18 points, four rebounds and four assists in two contests. Big man David Lee averaged 22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds, both an increase from his season average.
Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio averaged 10.3 points, nine assists and two steals in three games against Golden State. Sharpshooter Kevin Martin averaged 21 points per game in the series. Nikola Pekovic played in two games against Golden State and averaged 16 points and 10.5 rebounds. Rookie Gorgui Dieng played just 42 minutes in two games, but played well, scoring 12 points to go with 15 rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Corey Brewer averaged 18.3 points in three games, shooting 60.5 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from the 3-point line.
Projection: The Western Conference is tough, but so is this Golden State squad. Curry and Thompson are still improving. Bogut and Iguodala bring some defensive intensity. One thing that might be a bit of a concern is the team’s depth in the paint. After Bogut, Lee and undersized forward Draymond Green, there’s not a lot of experience between Festus Ezeli, Ognjen Kuzmic and Mareese Speights. We saw last season just how important Bogut was to this team when he missed time due to rib, back, elbow and ankle injuries.
Barring a major injury to Curry, this team is still a top-8 team in the Western Conference. The question will be whether or not this team jells with Kerr and can stay healthy. If the team buys in, there’s no reason why it can’t compete for home court advantage in the first-round of the playoffs.
A championship team, though? Probably not.