Warriors Enter 24-25 Season With Refreshed Outlook
The Golden State Warriors offseason included a significant roster shuffle headlined by the decision to pivot from longtime franchise pillar Klay Thompson. Second-year general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. supplemented the bench by adding veteran wings Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton along with sharpshooter Buddy Hield. Capped off by extending Stephen Curry for another year, keeping him in The Bay through the 2026-27 season.
The revamped Golden State roster has both Dunleavy Jr. and head coach Steve Kerr entering the season with a reinvigorated outlook for a team in desperate need of new life after back-to-back seasons that failed to meet championship expectations.
“Yeah, I think anytime you have an opportunity to sign, extend Steph Curry and have him here longer with our organization, it's a no-brainer,” Dunleavy Jr. said. “He's probably the -- he is the greatest, call it, face of the franchise really in all of sports.”
With Curry pledging his commitment to Golden State, the expectation is that the front office will surround him with a supporting cast to maximize his talent during the latter years of his career, while still performing at an MVP level.
Dunleavy Jr. acknowledged the closing window of opportunity that the Warriors face with Curry entering the season at 36 years old and running mate Draymond Green being 34.
“We're probably as impatient as a franchise as you can be right now given our time horizon and all that,” Dunleavy Jr. said.
Golden State enters the year coming off a 46-win season in which they missed the playoffs, after being bounced in the Play-In-Tournament to Sacramento. The year prior, the Dubs won two games less and advanced to the conference semifinals as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.
“We do know the west is loaded. Memphis is going to be better. Houston is going to be better, San Antonio. You can go up and down the line. Oklahoma City is loaded. Denver still is Denver,” Kerr said.
Another season of competing in a stacked Western Conference without adding a true second-scoring option means Golden State will have to improve internally starting on the defensive side of the ball.
“I think the biggest areas that we need to improve, we've got to get back to defending at a high level. We've got to be in the top five, six, seven in the league in defense at least. That's really been the recipe here all along,” Dunleavy Jr. said.
“We've got to be better in transition both ways, but really offensively. We want to improve our offense. One of the ways to do that is just to get out and run more. But when we do, we've got to be efficient in finishing, scoring and getting fouled.”
Fixing the issues that plagued the Dubs last season will begin next week during training camp in Hawaii. Where the Warriors will also get the preseason underway on October 5, versus the LA Clippers.
“I think the way I'm looking at it is we're not trying to ease into the year so much. We want to get off to a good start. We want to have a great training camp. So the way I'm looking at it is more we are doing something different. We're shaking up our routine. We're having training camp in one of the most beautiful places on earth,” Kerr said.