Warriors go from old to young: How they can use youth to their advantage

What a difference an offseason makes.

After a 2018-2019 season in which the Golden State Warriors had the NBA’s seventh-oldest roster at an average of 27.8 years old, they enter the 2019-2020 season with an average of 24.6, the 22nd-oldest in the league barring any last-minute veteran additions. Gone are the 35-year-old Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, who just turned 34. Both players provided outstanding veteran leadership and used their experience to be calming forces who would make smart plays on the court. The front office made difficult but necessary decisions to move on from both of them but they will be greatly missed by both the fanbase and their now-former teammates.

The flipside of losing players like Iguodala and Livingston is an infusion of youth into the lineup. 2019 All-Star D’Angelo Russell, who was the Warriors’ major pickup in the offseason, is only 23. Their oldest offseason addition was shooting guard Alec Burks at 28 years of age. The front office turned one of their young players into an even younger player, flipping 24-year-old Damian Jones for a different big man in 22-year-old Omari Spellman. In their first draft with multiple picks since 2012, the Warriors took full advantage, drafting Jordan Poole and Eric Paschall and engineering a trade for 19-year-old Serbian forward Alen Smailagić, the first Warrior to be born in the 21st century. They also signed a fourth rookie, Ky Bowman, to a two-way contract. All of this adds up to a roster in which the oldest of the 16 listed players, believe it or not, is currently some guy named Stephen Curry at 31.

Having a plethora of young players on an NBA roster undoubtedly comes with risks. Many of the current Warriors have little to no NBA experience, with seven of them having fewer than 82 NBA games under their belt. An eighth, Alfonzo McKinnie, barely passes this threshold. Think about that: basically half of the players on the current Golden State Warriors roster are yet to play one regular season’s worth of NBA games.

The lack of NBA game action for these players has the potential to show up on the court. They may not be used to the pace, physicality or style of play in the pros. This could easily lead to mistakes and struggles during games. If the young players are having difficulty keeping up on defense or frequently turning the ball over, veterans like Iguodala, Livingston and David West will be sorely missed.

But youth comes with advantages as well. Many of the new additions, most notably Paschall, Spellman and Smailagić, are high-energy players who will bring fresh legs and intensity when they get court time. Towards the end of their respective Warriors tenures, both Iguodala and Livingston were clearly not the players they once were. They provided immense value to the team, but it was obvious that time was catching up to them. Their bodies just didn’t allow them to do what they used to do.

There is no such concern for the young new players. Their games may be fairly raw, but they are developing and at the beginning of their careers. The front office hopes that they gradually get better and better over the course of this season and the ones to come, even if there is a learning curve, and that they will consistently bring energy and don’t experience the same physical issues that the veterans faced. Their youth carries with it a hope that they will be able to maintain that energy for years and over time turn into the veteran leaders in whose footsteps they are presently following.

What’s more, it’s not like this team is completely lacking in veteran presence. Curry, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney have all made deep playoff runs as members of the Dubs. Klay Thompson may miss most or all of the upcoming season, but he will likely be a quiet leader from the sidelines regardless. Burks, Glenn Robinson III and Willie Cauley-Stein have plenty of NBA experience between them. In spite of his age, Russell is already entering his fifth season in the league. All of these players will be expected to serve in the roles previously filled by Iguodala, Livingston and West. They are expected to act as the smart, careful players who avoid mistakes and serve as mentors to the younger players and keep them in line both on and off the court. The Warriors need them to step up and be willing to take on these roles and we will soon see if they are capable of doing so.

For 2019-2020, the Warriors have traded out elderly wisdom in favor of youthful energy. Such a move was necessary and brings concerns with it, but it has plenty of upsides as well. It’s almost time to see whether they were successful in how they went about it.