NBA: 5 biggest question marks after the first quarter of the season

2. What will Klay Thompson and James Wiseman do to an already overwhelming Warriors team?

One of the most surprising and exciting developments of the 2021-22 season thus far has been the resurgence of the Golden State Warriors

The Warriors currently have a record of 18-3 which is tied with the Phoenix Suns for the best record in the league.

Two time MVP award winner Stephen Curry has been incredible so far. Steph is second in the league in scoring; averaging 27.8ppg, while 45.1 percent from the field and 41.2 from 3. Curry is also dishing out 6.6 APG and grabbing 5.7 RPG. In a lot of people’s eyes, Curry is the MVP favorite through the first quarter of the season.

Even though Curry is having another MVP caliber season, the Warriors success has been, in large part, due to more than just his greatness.

Golden State currently averages the second most points per game and gives up the least amount of points per game. They have played exceptionally well on both ends of the floor. Here are some stats on the Warriors this season, thanks the NBA:

• Best defensive rating (99.8)
• Best plus/minus (12.6)
• Best PIE (58.2)
• Most assists per game (29.1) and best assist percentage (70.6)
• Second best team shooting percentage (47.6%)
• Second best rebounding percentage (52.2) and third most rebounds per game (47.2)
• Third best offensive rating in the league (112.4)

Watching the Warriors this season is reminiscent of the 2014-2016 Warriors teams that shared the ball so well, played incredible defense, and were just so fun to watch.

Andrew Wiggins has rejuvenated career in Golden State. Jordan Poole has really stepped up in Klay’s absence, averaging a career high 18.5 PPG. Draymond Green has been his usual self, stuffing the stat sheet and playing exceptional defense. And guys like Damion Lee, Otto Porter Jr, Gary Payton II, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Nemanja Bjelica who have all bought into what Steve Kerr and the Warriors coaching staff have been teaching.

What’s most impressive about this all is that they’ve done it without perennial all-star and Steph’s partner in crime: Klay Thompson.

All reports have indicated that Thompson is very close to making his return to action after missing the past two years due to injuries.

After the Warriors lost to the Suns this past Tuesday — in the postgame press conference — Steve Kerr described perfectly how Klay’s return will do wonders for Golden State:

"“When teams are going to commit people to Steph the way Phoenix did, there are going to be openings. There are going to be openings for Jordan [Poole], openings for Otto [Porter Jr], guys who have knocked down a bunch of threes, and there will be openings for Klay Thompson. It’s going to be fun.”"

For those who didn’t have the chance to watch the Warriors v. Suns game this past Tuesday, a big part of the Suns game plan was putting long, physical wings on Steph.

Mikal Bridges, Devin Booker, Jae Crowder, and Cam Johnson all face guarded Steph at some point during the game, with Mikal being the main defender on Steph. Phoenix even played a box and one on Golden State multiple times during the game, forcing the Warriors to create offense without Steph.

Opposing team’s won’t be able to do that once Klay returns to the lineup. Klay’s too dangerous of a shooter and an offensive threat to play zone against. Double teaming one of the splash brothers will lead to easy opportunities for the best passing team in the league.

Having said that, it remains to be seen what kind of shape Klay is in. Hopefully, for basketball fans sake, Klay can return to the player he was before the injuries took place. For now though, this remains an unanswerable question.

Oh, and did I mention that the Warriors have also been without second-year big man James Wiseman. Wiseman’s return may prove to be just as important as Klay’s.

That Suns v. Warriors game that occurred a couple of nights ago really highlighted Golden State’s glaring weakness: the lack of a rim defender.

Suns big man DeAndre Ayton feasted in the paint all night long. In a Western Conference that has bigs like Anthony Davis, DeAndre Ayton, Nikola Jokic, Karl Anthony-Towns and Rudy Gobert, having a big that defends will be a must come playoff time for the Warriors. That’s why Wiseman is so important to this team.

If the second-year pro can come back and be the rim protecting big the Warriors are missing then we might be looking at another championship run for Golden State.

However, this all remains a big question mark going forward for, not just Golden State, but the rest of the NBA.

It’s not a sure thing that Klay Thompson can return to his former self and Wiseman still has yet to prove he can be a reliable rotation for a winning team. We’ll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.