Payback for Dubs

Last campaign was both forgettable and unforgettable for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. They finished the regular season with a historic best-ever 73-9 record but blew a 3-1 series lead in the Finals to lose the championship to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Two days before Golden State opened its second round playoff series against Portland, it was announced that head coach Steve Kerr’s chief assistant Luke Walton would move to the Los Angeles Lakers the next campaign – a distracting declaration considering Bill’s son was still employed with the Warriors and continued to play a key role in guiding the Dubs throughout the postseason.

Walton became an overnight sensation in the Bay Area when he led Golden State to a 24-0 start and a 39-4 record as the interim head coach in place of Kerr who was out of commission to recover from back surgery when Kerr reclaimed the reins, the Warriors went on to register the 73-9 mark. Curiously, Walton’s record of 39-4 was better than Kerr’s 34-5.

Now that Walton is with the Lakers, Kerr brought in a replacement who has coached the Cavs for six years. Mike Brown, one-time NBA Coach of the Year, was hired in a move that has psychological implications. Brown was previously an assistant coach in Gregg Popovich’s staff at San Antonio and worked five seasons as LeBron James’ head coach at Cleveland. It’s no coincidence that the Spurs are considered Golden State’s toughest opponents in the West and if the Warriors make it back to the Finals, they’ll likely face the Cavs for the crown. With Brown playing caddy, Kerr has the perfect source to share insights on how to bring down the Spurs and Cavs.

The Dubs underwent a major facelift in the offseason to retool for redemption after failing to retain the championship. They jettisoned Mo Buckets Speights to the Los Angeles Clippers, Andrew Bogut to Dallas, Harrison Barnes to Dallas, Brandon Rush to Minnesota, Festus Ezeli to Portland and Leandro Barbosa to Phoenix. Kerr bolstered the lineup by signing Kevin Durant from Oklahoma, David West from San Antonio, Zaza Pachulia from Dallas, one-time Gilas naturalized player candidate JaVale McGee from Dallas and rookies Damian Jones from Vanderbilt and Patrick McCaw from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Golden State’s last cuts were 5-11 Phil Pressey, 6-4 Cameron Jones and 6-5 Elliott Williams. Kerr obviously went for size in adding McGee and Jones, both 7-footers, to fill the void left by bigs Bogut and Ezeli.

Holdovers are Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Igoudala, Shaun Livingston, Ian Clark, James McAdoo, Anderson Varejao and Kevin Looney. Last season, Curry averaged 30.1 points, Thompson 22.1, Durant 28.1 and Green 14.0. Fitting Durant to blend with the Splash Brothers is a welcome challenge for Kerr. Golden State is coughing up $54.3 Million in two years for Durant and the chance to build a championship nucleus with three of the NBA’s most prolific scorers.

If there were doubts that Kerr wouldn’t be able to manage the Three Basketeers because the game is played with only one basketball, he silenced the sceptics in the preseason where the Warriors posted a 6-1 record. Golden State lost its first preseason game, 97-93 to Toronto then went on a tear in the next six outings, disposing of the Clippers, 120-75, Sacramento, 105-96, Denver, 129-128 in overtime, the Lakers, 112-107 in Las Vegas, the Lakers again, 123-112 in San Diego and Portland, 107-96.

Kerr shuffled his troops like a card shark and kept everybody happy. McCaw emerged the hero in the overtime win over Denver. Clark shot 17 points on 7-of-11 field goals in the win over the Blazers. Green had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the romp over the Lakers in San Diego. Thompson fired 30 against the Clippers. Curry hit 35 and Durant 28 in bowling over Portland. So it looks like Kerr has found the formula to align the stars for a trip back to the throne.

“The trio of Curry, Thompson and Durant may be the best three shooters ever assembled on a single team – and it may not even be close,” wrote Eric Pincus in Lindy’s Pro Basketball 2016-17. “Kerr has successfully preached cooperation over the team’s past two runs to the NBA Finals, including the 2014-15 championship. Provided his players continue to buy in, the Warriors have a real chance to improve upon last season’s record-breaking 73-win team, a group that fell just short of back-to-back titles.”

This season will miss Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Amar’e Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett and Elton Brand who’ve retired but there are more than enough storylines to make up for their absence. Ten teams, for instance, are starting with new head coaches. Walton, Brooklyn’s Kenny Atkinson, Minnesota’s Tom Thibodeaux, Washington’s Scott Brooks, Sacramento’s Dave Joerger, Indiana’s Nate McMillan, Orlando’s Frank Vogel, Memphis’ David Fizdale, Houston’s Mike D’Antoni and New York’s Jeff Hornacek are in the cast. Then, there are the major player transfers like Dwyane Wade, Robin Lopez and Rajan Rondo to Chicago, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to New York, Al Horford to Boston, Dwight Howard to Atlanta, Jeff Teague and Al Jefferson to Indiana, Roy Hibbert and Marco Belinelli to Charlotte, Serge Ibaka to Orlando, Pau Gasol to San Antonio, Jared Sullinger to Toronto, Chris Andersen and Mike Dunleavy to Cleveland, Matthew Dellavedova to Milwaukee, Ryan Anderson and Nene to Houston, Chandler Parsons to Memphis, Victor Oladipo and Ersan Ilyasova to Oklahoma, Boris Diaw and Joe Johnson to Utah, Jose Calderon and Luol Deng to the Lakers and Aaron Afflalo and Matt Barnes to Sacramento.