The Warriors might struggle to make the playoffs
“We suck right now.”
No one could sum up the Dubs’ start to the season better than Draymond Green did right there (after their loss to the Thunder).
He’s not wrong. Golden State has just been bad to start the year, on defense especially.
Their backcourt of Steph and D’Angelo Russell have struggled to hit shots thus far but you have to imagine they’re going to find their respective shooting strokes at some point.
However, the issues that don’t seem to have an obvious fix are the team’s defense and depth issues.
With Klay out and with Iggy gone, they have no real perimeter stopper and given the fact that they start both Russell and Curry, they’re going to struggle to contain bigger, stronger guards.
They’ve also been without Willie Cauley-Stein which is a significant blow. When he comes back, that will at least give them another big body and interior presence down low. But if Draymond Green isn’t able to be a game-changer on the defensive end, I don’t know how much of a difference Willie will actually make.
Then we come to the bench. It was a concern before the season started, who was going to produce for the second unit and through the first few games, I still don’t really know the answer.
Maybe one of their other guys will step up out of nowhere. Maybe Steph catches fire and carries the team on his back. But for now, with the way they’re playing, it looks like not just the dynasty is over, but the team’s playoff streak might be in jeopardy too.