We're not really sure what to think about the Warriors' upcoming season. After Klay Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the NBA Finals and Kevin Durant left for the Nets in free agency, the Warriors are not overwhelming favorites to win it all this year.
They're not even underwhelming favorites to win it all this year. And that's just strange.
It has been three seasons since a Warriors trip to the Finals wasn't all but guaranteed and five since they have been the absolute best team in the NBA. Now, Golden State is just like everybody else: a team with two stars hoping to come out on top in a stacked Western Conference.
So how does this season shape up for the Warriors? Well, it's going to be different, that's for sure.
NBA preview 2019-20: Three Warriors storylines to follow
Replacing Kevin Durant
First of all, Kevin Durant cannot be replaced. He's one of the best players in the world. But Golden State has to make up for losing 26 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game this season and it is honestly already on its way there.
The first logical change is this: Stephen Curry has to do more. Curry's points per game went down by five when Durant first joined the team in 2016-17, and his shots went down by two that year and four the next before jumping back up in his final year with Durant on the roster. But there is a reason Curry won two MVP awards: He is a fantastic player and the best shooter the game has ever seen.
For Golden State to have any chance to get back to the NBA Finals, MVP Steph has to show up again and there is a good chance that will happen, especially with Thompson likely being out until after the All-Star break.
Waiting for Klay
Speaking of Thompson, the Warriors could play some 60 games without the shooting guard this year. Golden State signed D'Angelo Russell, and he will likely make up for just about everything lost with Thompson except for his defense.
Strictly statistically, Russell averaged the same number of points and rebounds as Thompson did last year, and he was a better distributor, averaging four more assists than Thompson. But basketball isn't played on paper, so it is unclear if Russell will pick up where he left off with the Nets last season.
If he does and Curry is an MVP player again, the Warriors will have no problems. Logically though there will be an adjustment period.
New depth
An underrated part of this offseason with the Warriors came with the trade of Andre Iguodala and the retirement of Shaun Livingston. While the two veterans combined to average about 10 points, five rebounds and five assists last year, which won't be a massive loss on paper, their experience in the playoffs and presence in the locker room will be missed.
To make up for those losses the Warriors added some potentially good players in the draft in Jordan Poole, Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic. Paschall should be able to step right in and play after winning a national title as a junior and featuring heavily with Villanova as a senior. Poole made deep playoff runs with Michigan as well over the last two years, but he didn't have nearly as much pressure on him as Paschall.
Both of men will likely factor into the rotation in some way this season, and the Warriors will need some production. We'll see how much they can help, if at all, this season.