Steve Kerr and the Warriors will face significant changes this season, as they are missing one of their top scorers, Klay Thompson.
Thompson, the team’s second leading scorer behind Steph Curry, leaves a gap at the shooting guard position with no clear replacement in sight.
Coach Steve Kerr has emphasized that nearly every starting position is up for grabs.
“There is competition across the board,” Kerr stated. “It’s not as simple as, ‘Who is going to be the 2?’ It’s got to be — ‘Who is going to be the 5? Who’s the 4?’ We know that Steph is the 1. But what’s the combination?”
Golden State experimented with 27 different starting lineups last season, but none were particularly successful.
“The starting lineup is going to have to be dependent, not only on the first five fitting, but the second fitting as well,” Kerr explained. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out lineups. All the guys can do is compete, play their ass off.”
As for filling the offensive gap left by Thompson, it remains uncertain who will step up.
Second-year guard Brandin Podziemski has been advised by Kerr and the front office to take on a high volume of three-point attempts, aiming for eight to ten per game.
Moreover, Kerr expects Andrew Wiggins, Moses Moody, and newcomer De’Anthony Melton to also take a significant number of shots.
“I want Wigs shooting six, seven 3s,” Kerr emphasized. “I want Brandin, I want Moses, I want De’Anthony — I want to be a high-volume shooting team. I think that’s important to us. The big shift is Klay is not here. So we were fourth in the league in 3-point attempts last year, but Klay probably shot eight to 10 of them, so we’re going to have to fill that void. That will come from multiple people.”
