Golden State Warriors
Coming off a disappointing showing last season, the Golden State Warriors are one team that many will have their eyes on to begin the season. It was an unmemorable title defense for Golden State last season, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals, but the hope is that this is a team that will be a much bigger threat to win it all this year. A big part of that is being able to remain healthy.
You’d have to imagine that load management was part of their original regular-season game plan. If that’s so, they’ll have to be creative in doing so.
The Warriors have four players who are considered “stars” by the league. Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Chris Paul are all subjected to this new rule for the Warriors. For such a veteran-laden team, that could end up biting them in the back. Considering this is a team that is only graded by what they do in the postseason and that getting to the May and June healthy is at the top of their set of goals at the start of the season, this new rule could very much complicate their approach to the season.