Warriors are contenders again: Four reasons Golden State is back, including Buddy Hield being a better Klay Thompson

Since winning a championship in 2022, the Warriors have been a team in clear decline.

Two years ago, the Warriors lost to the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs. Last year they didn’t even make the postseason and were eliminated in their first play-in tournament game.

Given that Stephen Curry turned 36 in the offseason, it looked like Golden State’s time as a championship contender was over. The front office took steps to cut a lot of salaries and let go of Klay Thompson and Chris Paul, ushering in a new era.

However, something funny happened. Cheapening the team ultimately created an even stronger group. The Warriors are tied for the best record in the Western Conference after the first 10 games of the season.

The explanation for Golden State’s turnaround can be boiled down to a few key reasons.

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Four reasons why the Warriors are in the running again

The return of “strength in numbers”

Steve Kerr’s motto during the Warriors’ dynasty era was the idea of ​​strength in numbers. Sure, the Warriors had star power, but Kerr believed that relying on the contributions of the entire roster would lead to championships.

Golden State hasn’t had the personnel to make this a viable strategy in recent years, but it’s back in full force this season. Kerr called this the deepest team he has ever coached, and his rotations prove it. Nobody plays more than 30 minutes per game and Kerr has 13 players averaging double-digit minutes.

Curry and Draymond Green are still doing their thing. Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney both enjoyed resurgent seasons after being in slumps last year. The Warriors have gained tremendous depth from their recent draft picks, and they’ve also had good opportunities with their new additions.

Buddy Hield was a better version of Klay Thompson

Golden State’s most influential new player was undoubtedly Buddy Hield, who was one of the early candidates for Sixth Man of the Year. Off the bench, he averages 18.0 points per game and shoots 48.8 percent from 3. He stepped right into Thompson’s role and brought joy to the team that was missing last year.

While Thompson was still a good shooter last season, he tried to do too much at times. He shot them out of games, such as his terrible 0-of-10 performance in a 118-94 loss in the play-in game. Kerr found himself in a difficult situation as he had to be removed from the starting and closing lineups throughout the year.

That problem is now eliminated with the addition of Hield, who has welcomed coming off the bench after failing to find a replacement in Philadelphia last season. Hield has always been a great scorer, but he was unleashed in Golden State because Kerr figured out how to overcome its poor defense.

MORE: Warriors Buddy Hield is the perfect replacement for Klay Thompson: What’s changed for him in Golden State

The Warriors have updated their offensive and defensive plans

Hield has fit into a new, more aggressive style of defense under the direction of new assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse. The Warriors ranked 23rd in forced turnovers last season. They are ranked sixth this year because they are second in deviations per game behind the Thunder.

The Warriors have stocked up on long, athletic players who can make plays with the ball. They more often send two defenders to the ball screens and cause havoc in this way. They have smart veterans who know how to rotate, and Green leads the way in covering the ball pressure that his other teammates generate. This has resulted in a defense that has risen from 15th last year to 3rd this season.

The Warriors have also added some new nuances to their classic, movement-heavy offensive system. Another new assistant, longtime Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, brought some of the blocker-mover moves that helped Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in Portland and used those sets on Curry and Hield. That helped Golden State go from No. 9 offensive line to No. 4 last season.

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Stephen Curry is still that guy

The Warriors’ added depth, both in players and coaches, is a beautiful story. But without curry none of it matters. At the end of the Olympics he showed that he is still capable of being one of the best players in the world and that was confirmed in the regular season.

Curry’s raw numbers are down to 22.0 points and 6.3 assists per game, but that’s mostly because his minutes are down to 28.3 per game. Kerr has had the luxury of rest this season, which has kept his shooting performance extremely high. His 43.5 percent from 3 is the best mark he has posted since 2018-19. And he still hits huge throws in the clutch, dropping a night-time 3 to secure a win against the Thunder on Sunday.

STEPH SAYS NIGHT NIGHT 😴 pic.twitter.com/pH8ooQYmzM

– Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 11, 2024

Curry is still the most dangerous shooter in the game. The Warriors were always going to be good with him. They’re great again because the other guys showed up behind him. They even managed to hold the fort when he was injured, scoring 3-0 while he recovered from a sprained ankle.

This Warriors team is for real, as they proved last week with wins over the Celtics and Thunder. It’s not the same team of Steph and Klay that dominated the league for so long, but they’ve found a way to evolve into a new version capable of making some serious noise in the playoffs.