SAN FRANCISCO – Five Western Conference teams won 50 or more games in the 2023-24 NBA season. The Warriors were not one of them. They got 46 wins, two more than the previous season, but fell all the way to 10th place and failed to make the playoffs for the first time under coach Steve Kerr with a healthy Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Thompson moved to the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason. The Warriors failed to add a second star alongside Curry and failed to complete a deal for Paul George or Lauri Markkanen. Instead, general manager Mike Dunleavy's patient approach formulated a historic six-team trade, adding veteran players that the Warriors believe should make them a better team that can form a clear identity.

“The first thing that comes to mind is just a tough, tough team,” Steve Kerr responded Tuesday as he described the Warriors ahead of Wednesday's regular-season opener in Portland against the Trail Blazers.

“Everyone deserves to play, but not everyone can.”

Steve Kerr talks about the Warriors' strength this season pic.twitter.com/lGjTNthjnC

– Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 22, 2024

Kerr has already informed Lindy Waters III and Gui Santos that they will not be at the season opener. Both are players that Kerr has said can and will help the Warriors win games. Waters shot 44 percent from 3-point range in the preseason and was one of the Warriors' best players in plus/minus. The 22-year-old Santos is a young player who remains highly valued by the Warriors, and his power makes him suitable for almost any combination.

However, this is how this version of the Warriors came into being. They have 12 players fighting for about 10 spots to get real playing time, and the team believes in the two who are immediately on the outside looking in. The Warriors have added proven veterans in Kyle Anderson, Buddy Hield and De'Anthony Melton, who fit Kerr's goal is to be a defensive team that launches 3-pointers and switches much better on both sides of the ball.

Curry is 36 years old and will turn 37 in March. Green is 34 and will be just 10 days old before Curry blows out two more candles than his longtime teammate. While the search for a second established star continues and the hope is that Andrew Wiggins can return to his All-Star form and Jonathan Kuminga can grow into the star he imagines he will be, the Warriors are primed for a strong regular Season where they should be pushing to be a 50 win team.

“I think enduring injuries will be one of our strengths,” Kerr said. “I think Kyle is ready to step in for Draymond if Draymond is out, one at a time, whatever it may be. This is a huge addition for us because Kyle is such a good player and a similar point forward player with tremendous basketball IQ.

“I can go through the list, we have a lot of players who can step in if we have injuries. I'm thrilled.”

Steve Kerr is confident Kyle Anderson can replace Draymond Green on the field if needed pic.twitter.com/tC4Rt7mi1L

– Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 22, 2024

The Warriors will shoot threes, and lots of them. In their undefeated 6-0 preseason, they shot 254 three-pointers and made 97. That equates to more than 42 three-point attempts per game and more than 16 three-point attempts per game, which is a 38.2 percent shooting rate as a team, while Curry has two games and more On average, less than 20 minutes were played in the previous season.

They want to be a top defensive team again after the defeats in the last two seasons. It's just the preseason and all six wins will be forgotten if the Warriors get off to a slow start, but Golden State held opponents to a 40.6 percent shooting percentage, including a lowly 25.7 percent from three and just 95, 3 points. The Warriors averaged six more rebounds per game than their opponents and blocked a total of nine more shots than themselves heading into the regular season.

“The premise of this thing is based on depth, and that’s what we’re going for,” Dunleavy said. “So far, so good.”

Even the Warriors know they aren't considered championship contenders, and behind closed doors they aren't making plans for a victory parade just yet. They are the hunters, not the hunted. Her sexy factor has dropped, easing the burden at a time when expectations are still high as Curry, coming off a summer of Olympic heroics, is an all-time great.

Words like “lively” and “fresh” were used at Chase Center last month. To be honest, they accept it. Core rivals Curry and Green and Kerr and Dunleavy still have a checklist for the playoffs, where they can advance round after round and have a shot at the title. Realists will argue against the Warriors' chances, but after their big offseason plan was scuttled, they have created a team-wide personality that should be able to chase and steal wins.

“What I constantly tell the players is that everyone will judge us, but only we can really judge whether we are successful or not, or whether we are getting better every day, whether we are connected, whether we are fighting for each other,” Kerr said.

“All of these things lead to success, and that’s what we measure every day.”

Conversations about their playoff fortunes can wait. A clearer picture can be drawn around the February trade deadline depending on how the new additions perform in addition to the development of young players like Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Other teams will have to give preference to the Warriors, at a time when almost everyone in the West is pushing to be better than last season.

The Warriors consider themselves part of that group that wants to improve. Since it is designed for the regular season in its current form, both the Warriors' entertainment value and win total should see an increase.

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