Spotlights come in many sizes, with varying degrees of wattage. And those that the Warriors are targeting this season, as they try to rejoin the NBA elite, span the entire range.
A highly anticipated media day comes Monday, after which coaches and players enter the Chase Center practice facility Tuesday to seek answers to a long list of questions.
We’ve distilled the list into five questions, five megawatt spotlights focused on specific issues that will dictate the direction of the upcoming 2023-24 NBA season.
Here they are, ranked in order of importance:
1. Can Stephen Curry continue his Tom Brady act and extend his prime for another season?
Everything the Warriors have accomplished since 2012 has revolved around Curry. His health is their power plant, and the team shines when he is at his best.
Coming off a 2021-22 season that was below his lofty standard, Curry was good again last season, finishing with eight missed field-goal attempts from his first 50-40-90 season since his MVP season in 2015-16.
With the Warriors on the brink of being a playoff casualty in the first round, their salvation was a deep 50-point screamer – on the road – from their 35-year-old leader.
Curry spent last season, including the playoffs, defying the aging process. He will be 36 next March. Coach Steve Kerr, who knows the need to manage the minutes of veterans around which the team is built, will look to keep Curry’s minutes in the low 30s.
The Warriors are betting big on chasing their fifth championship in 10 years. It is, in many ways, a one-time game for a jackpot. Another amazing season from Curry was needed to cash in.
2. Can Chris Paul accept – and not just accept – his reduced role and be productive at age 38?
Paul’s “role” in the Warriors was discussed in the summer. For obvious reasons. He has started every game in an NBA career that began in 2005. Additionally, he has the presence of a man who has been the primary leader on all five of his previous teams and knows he will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. .
But it was a new experience. Paul made his first entrance into a locker room full of championship jewelry. It has taken him nearly four months to adjust to the fact that this is a bus where he spends more time riding than driving.
The Warriors plan to handle Paul’s workload, averaging 25 or more minutes per game, with select nights off. The goal is to keep him as fresh as possible for the postseason.
The belief is that Paul will be professional and respect the plan. Anything less and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. feel a bit of trader’s remorse.
3) Can Kerr effectively manage the most powerful new personality to enter the locker room since he arrived in 2014?
This spotlight can be paired with No. 2. Paul is not 2016 Kevin Durant, who gives opinions but is focused on fitting in with the team and working on his game. Paul, in contrast, is used to having his voice heard and is often listened to by teammates and coaches.
Kerr is an excellent basketball coach who is better at managing people. Taking on a sometimes-prickly personality like Paul was a challenge, but one he would embrace. He’s spent nine years navigating the peaks and valleys that come with being the flamboyant and volatile Draymond Green — and succeeding in trying times.
Kerr, entering the final year of his contract, said he is comfortable as a lame duck coach. He’s hopeful that veterans will understand what’s at stake — there is, again, a heavier weight this season — and conduct themselves accordingly.
Getting a veteran with Paul’s gravitas made it an experiment. If it succeeds, the coach deserves a huge amount of credit.
4) Can Draymond pay for last season’s devastating offense?
Green’s oft-referenced punch to Jordan Poole’s face during training camp last season contaminated the team’s communal tea before the season started. Green lost it, he knew it and he apologized.
More to the point, Green blamed himself for creating trust issues that prevented much progress over the course of the season. A cloud he created never drifted away.
The response from the management was to sell Poole – nine months after recognizing him as a core member of the future – and present Green with the contract extension of his desire. It was a gesture of faith that Green could return to the leadership he had before he sabotaged his power.
RELATED: Source: Draymond Green sprains ankle ahead of training camp
Now it’s up to Green to prove that he, at age 33, can regain full acceptance in the entire locker room and still be the centerpiece of the defense. If his self-reproach is sincere, he must feel he owes the franchise.
5) Can Klay Thompson return to the two-way All-Star he was before the injuries hit?
In his first full season since 2018-19, Thompson led the NBA in 3-point makes. He sometimes played outstanding defense, including a memorable game against Celtics star Jayson Tatum. Because of Thompson’s journey, his season is strong.
“Solid” wasn’t enough for Thompson. That’s why he didn’t receive any honor votes. Most importantly, he was terrible in the Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers.
Thompson wasn’t upset about missing the All-Star game. What bothered him was knowing that he was not worthy.
Making his sixth All-Star team, and first since his fifth straight in 2019, is a stated goal for this season. His defense may not reach the level he had in his late 20s, when he guarded as many as four positions, but there’s reason to believe he’ll be more motivated.
If Thompson’s offensive prowess and defensive prowess improve even a little, the Warriors will be a much better team.
Download and listen to Dubs Talk Podcast