It’s finally that beautiful time of year again—the start of the NBA season. The Dubs play their first of five preseason games on October 4, and there’s a lot of intriguing storylines to monitor.

1. Andrew Wiggins

Wiggins has been the hottest topic of the Warriors' off-season thus far. Encouragingly, 95% of NBA players are vaccinated at this point, but along with notable players like Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal, Andrew Wiggins has yet to be vaccinated. This wouldn’t be such a huge deal for most NBA teams, but SF’s vaccine mandate begins on October 13, which will likely cause Wiggins to miss the game on Oct. 15 and the remaining home games after that until he’s vaccinated.

2. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody

The two lottery picks played well during the summer league. It will be interesting how the highly-touted rookies look alongside some of the Warriors’ starters, depending on how much run the actual first and second-team lineups get. It will also be interesting to see where Kerr lines up Kuminga and Moody, as Kerr has stated that he could see Kuminga playing the 4 in many instances.

3. Possible Starting 5

It’s always kind of a shot in the dark when it comes to how many minutes the likely regular season starting 5 will get during the preseason, but even so, who Kerr decides to start during the preseason matters. Due to Klay not being able to play, it will be interesting to see who slides into the 2 spot—Poole or Otto Porter Jr. Or, assuming he makes the 15-man roster, a dark horse for the 2 spot could be Avery Bradley.

4. Matchups

The Warriors play the Trail Blazers twice and the Lakers twice, with a matchup against the Denver Nuggets thrown in there. Portland is still trying to figure things out as pressure on the organization intensifies to maximize Lillard’s tenure.

The Lakers have totally revamped their roster, adding notable names in Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, and ex-Warriors player Kent Bazemore. There will likely only be one of the two games where the Warriors get a good look at the Lakers starters.

5. Minutes Played

I’d expect to see players like Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, Kevon Looney, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga getting the majority of minutes. There’s a lot the Warriors’ coaching staff needs to figure out as far as rotations go, and these players are huge parts of the Warriors’ potential success this year.

Overall, Wiggins’ vaccination status, Avery Bradley’s ability to play effectively, and the continued development of the team’s youngest players in Wiseman (even though he’s been ruled out for the preseason), Kuminga and Moody are, I believe, what the coaching staff and front office are closely monitoring before the regular season begins. If all three of these things go according to plan, there is a lot to be optimistic about with Klay Thompson’s return on the horizon.

(Photo credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)