We are 77 days away until the quick off of the 2019-20 NBA season, and there are a lot of fans anxious to see their team’s new looks. One of the teams to watch are the Golden State Warriors, as they look to contend for another title with a seemingly new cast of supporting players.

The x-factor to this new group will be all-star D’Angelo Russell, who was acquired through a sign and trade from the Brooklyn Nets. Coming off of his first all-star selection, Russell will be key to the Warriors’ playoff berth while Klay Thompson recovers from his ACL tear.

General Managers across the league have given insights on their views about some of the offseason moves this past free agency blessed the basketball world with.

“I don’t know what the fit’s going to be like, but they got something back that has value that they can trade down the line,” said one GM.

The fit itself has the potential to be dangerous, considering the turn of style in the current NBA. Small ball is in with small backcourts making deep playoff runs, and the Warriors’ offense is built to enable jump shooting guards to score at high, efficient rates.

Steve Kerr’s flow offense, in particular, makes me believe that Russell will flourish this upcoming season.

While the Warriors are known for playing up and down, in sort of a chaos, their chaos is very organized-- consisting of the point guard passing the ball to the trailer then setting a down screen for the two guard who comes off the screen to receive the ball.

Insert Russell, who will then get an on ball screen. The beauty of this offense is that it allows body movement and one on one opportunities off of switches. Russell scored 44% of his points off of switches in the 2018-19 season, while 60% of his three point makes were assisted on. Along with this he averaged 7 assists. In the Flow Offense, once the shooting guard comes off his screen the point guard, who will be Stephen Curry in most instances, will be on the weak side wing while the small forward will be spotting up on the strong side wing.

The spacing of the offense will create an island for Russell and his defender-- enabling Russell to exploit an advantage. If he is unable to score in on one, he has various options which include: hitting the roller, handing off to the three, hitting the one for a backdoor cut, and, in the easy case, hitting a three off the initial ball screen.

In addition to this, Russell will now have the luxury of not being defended by the opposing team's best defenders. The Flow Offense is centered around Curry, some believing that Curry is the system, therefore, Russell will be a strong supporting piece to the center of the offense. This will be the first time in his career that he will not be a focal point of defensive scouts.

The presence of Curry prohibits teams from playing help side defense, even propelling some teams into playing zone defenses. The “Curry Factor” is what made the Warriors’ so dangerous for all these years. Teams are forced to pick their poisons, which usually leave one or two people open. If Russell is able to take advantage of the space his new teammate creates for him, he will be able to score at will.

The biggest adjustment Russell will have to make this upcoming season will be playing the shooting guard position. He played the two just 13% of the season in 2018-19. Fortunately, the Flow Offense is a positionless system for the guards. In the past, Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, even Draymond Green have initiated the offense.

More importantly, Curry does not need the ball in hand to be effective. The centerpiece of the Warriors’ offense is a master at moving without the ball, scoring high numbers with limited dribbles.

The adjustment should be drastic, in hindsight. The main thing moving forward for Russell will be accepting his role and buying into Kerr’s system.