Golden State’s pre-season couldn’t have looked more promising. The Dubs came out of the gates pretty much firing on all cylinders and looking like they’ll leave last year’s team in the dust. Jordan Poole is clearly emerging as a future (if not current) star, the Warriors now have high-IQ veterans that can shoot, and Wiggins, Draymond and Steph are all healthy… and vaccinated.

The best part about the Warriors’ pre-season to me, though, is that they still get to add Klay Thompson and James Wiseman to the mix on top of all of this optimism. Wiseman’s ceiling is sky high, and with the addition of development specialist DeJan Milojević, I expect him to be a lot better this year than he was last year. And Klay, obviously, will be Klay Thompson. Adding his shooting and defense to an already elite shooting lineup has got me thinking: what are the best and most hell-inducing lineups that this Warriors team can roll out there this season, including both Klay and Wiseman?

Shooting Lineup: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Nemanja Bjeliça, Otto Porter Jr.

Ugh, could you imagine this? This lineup actually works as a legitimate one, too, as Steph and Poole could man the 1 and 2 guards, Klay and Porter Jr. assume the 3 and 4 roles, and Bjeliça could play the 5.

Curry, Klay, and Porter Jr. have all shot higher than 40% from three-point range throughout their careers, and Bjeliça and Poole aren’t far behind. This lineup would create an insane amount of space on the floor and would allow for Poole to blow by defenders with ease and finish at the rim. The weaknesses of this group would be defense and rebounding, but all of these players are still capable and high-IQ defenders. Whatever cons they would have, the pros would outweigh them in my book.

Defensive Lineup: Andre Iguodala, Juan Toscano-Anderson (interchangeable with Klay), Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney

Yes, this lineup without Klay probably couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn on offense, but this is probably the most elite group of defenders the Warriors have. Plus, there’s actually quite a bit of play-making potential on the court with these guys as well.

Iguodala and Green are both extremely adept at manning the point guard position, and JTA and Looney are fantastic passers. Wiggins would be the designated scorer out of the group, but he wouldn’t be able to find much spacing since none of the other players pose much of a shooting threat, unless Klay was added. Even without Klay in JTA’s spot, this lineup could cause a lot of hell for the opposing team on the defensive end, and it could be a good way for the Warriors to buy some time to rest for their best scorers.

Closing Lineup: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins

This lineup is my prediction of what Steve Kerr and the Warriors’ staff will go with at the end of close games. There is just so much history of close-game success with Curry, Thompson, Iguodala and Green, so I think those 4 are a lock to end games.

Wiggins, however, could be replaced. He offers the best balance of offense and defense to me, but I could also see Kerr going with Looney or Poole in his place, given how they play during the year. Looney has more defensive and rebounding upside, while Poole provides more shooting and playmaking upside. That fifth spot will probably end up being a revolving door for a more matchup-dependent, high-IQ player, but my best guess is Wiggins will be the default if Kerr can’t really make up his mind. All in all, though, the core four plus Wiggins, Looney or Poole would be an excellent closing lineup. I could even see Otto Porter Jr. taking up that fifth spot as long as he stays healthy, hits a high percentage of threes and plays great defense like he has for the majority of his career.

Death Lineup: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole

The Warriors’ patented death lineup this year is hard to predict. It all depends on how spry Iguodala is, Poole’s defensive development and Andrew Wiggins’ shooting efficiency.

I think the likelihood of Iguodala looking young and Poole playing solid defense is higher than Wiggins remaining consistent from the field this year, so I think Poole and Iguodala would crack this end-of-first-and-second-quarter death lineup. It’s also possible that Wiseman, given that he stays healthy and his IQ develops, could make his way in here. I do think that Wiseman’s playing time and offensive freedom will trend down this year, but like I said, his ceiling is high, so who knows?

Highly Effective Second-Team Lineup: Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, Otto Porter Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson, James Wiseman or Nejamja Bjeliça

The Warriors have the potential to have their best bench and second team this year than the “Strength In Numbers” days. There is such a balanced amount of shooting, defense and rebounding in this lineup, that it could heavily outweigh a lot of other NBA teams’ bench units.

I think, depending on the matchup, we could see a lot of Wiseman or Bjeliça at the 5 off the bench. Obviously, the rebounding potential would be less with Bjeliça at center, but JTA, Lee and Otto Porter Jr. are all decent rebounders, so it could work. The shooting potential and spacing would also be much better with Bjeliça at the 5.

Wiseman could provide a huge spark off the bench this year, though. Kerr has already said that he plans to use him much more in the pick-and-roll this year, which was where Wiseman was most effective last year. Jordan Poole is an above-average pick-and-roll guard, so the Poole, Wiseman connection could be a real relationship to watch this season. Plus, Wiseman could shoot the three decently well last year, so spacing wouldn’t be awful with him on the court either.

Overall, there’s a lot to be excited about this season. Klay Thompson’s return is really a make-or-break scenario for a deep postseason run, but even without him, I think the Warriors are already a playoff team if they stay healthy. What do you think of these potential lineups? Do you have any lineup ideas that could cause tons of problems for other teams?

(Photo via Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)