Warriors beat writer Danny Emerman shares his thoughts on the Warriors and beyond
The results are in: Steph Curry is no longer the best point guard in the NBA.
Both Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ranked ahead of Curry according to the 30 general managers polled in the league’s annual survey.
The poll isn’t just a bunch of randos on social media or even reporter-class pundits. It’s the league’s top decision-makers — the same ones that considered Curry the best point guard in the league each of the past nine seasons before this one.
So the survey holds weight. It’s the Times/Siena poll of the NBA. But should Curry getting dethroned matter?
Well, the same poll considers Curry the best pure shooter and the best at moving without the ball (duh). He ranks as the best leader in the NBA with a plurality of the votes and, for the second year in a row, the player general managers would most want to take the shot with a game on the line. He also finished a hair behind Doncic for the players toughest to game plan for.
Seems like someone any team would love to build around.
Curry is 36 years old. He doesn’t get the same separation on isolations on a nightly basis that he once did — which is to be expected. But he still creates as much gravity as ever, with defenses needing to stay attached to him wherever he is on the floor. When he’s on, he’s still as unguardable as anyone in league history. He showed as much during the Olympics.
As Curry said this week, the ball is going to stop bouncing at some point. But right now, the ball’s still bouncing in.
More GM survey strays
– Steve Kerr ranked as the third-best coach, the second-best motivator and as the fourth-best offensive coach. He didn’t get a vote for best in-game adjustments. Sounds about right.
– Top pick Zaccharie Risacher didn’t receive a single vote for the “Who will win the 2024-25 Rookie of the Year?” question. That’s got to hurt.
– Nikola Jokic was rightly named the best international player, with an overwhelming 87% of the vote, but Joel Embiid didn’t receive a single vote in the category. Be serious. Victor Wembanyama (1 vote) is going to run the league one day, but he’s not better than Embiid right now.
– My favorite inquiry was “Which active player will make the best head coach one day?” Chris Paul was a great choice at No. 1, and Garrett Temple was close behind him (20%); I never would have guessed him, but the fact that six GMs thought of him is fascinating.
– Jayson Tatum is regarded as the best small forward in the NBA, which very well might be correct, but he doesn’t even play small forward on his own team. The only two positions that make any sense to rank are point guard and center.
Who’s best team in California?
For whatever it’s worth, the Kings are going to be the best team in the state of California this year.
The Kings and Warriors met twice this week in the preseason, with Golden State winning the pair of exhibitions.
Sacramento added DeMar DeRozan to its nucleus, presumably going all-in on trying to outscore teams.
The Clippers, who won a state-best 51 games last year, lost Paul George and Kawhi Leonard hasn’t practiced with the team all preseason. The Lakers hired JJ Redick but didn’t address their problematic, aging roster; they won 47 games last season with a clean bill of health.
And the Warriors have high hopes for their young core and are optimistic about the three veterans they brought in. But how much higher can they climb from 46-36?
The Kings are going to be a matchup nightmare for teams. With DeRozan, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, they should generate mismatches and clean looks in the halfcourt while running teams out of the gym. Two years ago, they led the NBA in offensive rating and finished third in the West. If they can return to the top five, a 50-win season is certainly on the table.
The Warriors’ depth: real or fake?
After the Warriors’ Friday night preseason win, Kerr said, “This is probably the deepest team that I’ve seen here, in terms of the number of rotational guys.”
Well, okay. There’s a lot to unpack there.
The Warriors don’t have the early-championship years depth of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa and David Lee. What Golden State does have is 13 players capable of playing rotation minutes in the NBA. After their rock-solid top eight, they have Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney and Lindy Waters III. Each of them would play a role on any team, even contending ones.
But that role might just be as a 10th man (Moody, who has yet to get a real chance to prove himself in three seasons, has the potential to be more than that).
There are levels to having depth in the NBA. The defending champion Celtics don’t have 13 rotational players, but they have five terrific players and Al Horford, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard behind them. That’s depth, even if their overall number is lower.
The Warriors, meanwhile, might just have a whole bunch of C+ players. More isn’t always better.
Another Jerry West enshrinement
A list of players to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame three separate times?
- Jerry West
That’s the list. He’s The Logo for a reason.
West was already enshrined as a player and executive, and got inducted posthumously on Sunday as a contributor to the game.
West only spent seven of his 64 years in professional basketball with the Warriors. His immense presence makes it feel like so much more.
