Why the Warriors Have a Strong Chance of Repeating as NBA Champions
It’s finally here. Warriors basketball is back as the defending champions open up their 2022-2023 campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers coming to town. The Dubs will also be receiving their 2021-2022 championship rings before the season opener at the Chase Center. Exciting time for the Bay Area.
According to the NBA power rankings, Golden State opens up as the #1 team heading into the new season. It looks as if the Warriors make yet another fantastic case to repeat as world champions and here’s why:
The championship core returns.
You can never count out Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala. Haven’t we learned yet? You don’t underestimate this group.
As long as those cornerpieces stay healthy for the playoffs and out of trouble, the sky's the limit for the Warriors.
The growth of the young guns in James Wiseman, Johnathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody.
A lot of discussion about which of the baby Dubs will have the biggest jump from last season but all three will be a vital part to this team’s bench success and play key minutes throughout the season. You can’t name another team with championship aspirations that have this much young talent.
That second unit will go as far as those young guys will take them and it looks to be very deep in the postseason.
Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, and Kevon Looney are ready to continue to thrive following their breakthrough seasons.
Each of those guys listed above advanced their game last season and have massive value to this team’s overall success. I don’t see anyone slowing them down with the way they have grown together in the last year.
Jordan Poole is Curry 2.0, Andrew Wiggins looks to be one of the top two-way players in the league, and Kevon Looney showed in the playoffs how important of a defensive anchor and factor on the glass he is to this franchise.
The addition of Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green.
Losing Gary Payton II hurt, no getting past that. A fantastic consolation prize through free agency came in the former Villanova national champion, and I’m not complaining one bit. He obviously will not match the defensive intensity that GPII brought every night but overall, I believe DiVincenzo to be a more solid two-way player and definitely a more consistent three-point shooter. Donte plays with confidence and brings versatility at the guard position, something Steve Kerr really loves.
JaMychal Green was a bargain and brings size to a team that desperately needs it. As Wiseman begins to get back in the groove of the grueling NBA season, JaMychal can serve as a solid backup to support Looney at the 5. It’s a perfect scenario for everyone.
Those offseason additions somehow made this team deeper and stronger. That might be pretty hard to believe, but it’s true.
Of course there are question marks surrounding the camaraderie within the locker room after the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole debacle, but all teams argue and go through rough patches, even championship-level ones. I fully expect this team to get back on track sooner rather than later and solve the chemistry issues over time. Fans will be watching the Warriors back playing in June basketball once again.
Follow Arden Cravalho on Twitter @a_cravalho.
(Photo credit: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)