© Kelvin Kuo | 2019 Apr 18
The Warriors were supposed to be title contenders with Klay Thompson, now they’re not going to sniff the playoffs according to John Hollinger of The Athletic.
The former Grizzlies executive believes Golden State will finish 11th in the West this season with a 35-37 record, and expects the coming seasons to be difficult.
“As much as I may want the old Warriors back … I don’t think they’re coming back,” Hollinger writes. “Curry still projects as elite, and I think a more motivated Green can return to something closer to the defensive force he was in 2018-19. Nonetheless, even with a relatively optimistic forecast input for Wiseman, there are too many shortcomings in too many places for this team to rate as elite, and the West is too unforgiving to be optimistic about Golden State’s odds of slipping through the cracks.”
The last time the Warriors missed the playoffs when Curry played more than 30 games was the 2010-11 campaign, a season in which they won 36 games and Dorrell Wright was the only player to start all 82 games. Interestingly, Hollinger is more bearish on the Warriors than the betting markets, all of which have the Warriors finishing between 5th-8th in the West.
“The question is whether this causes an adjustment at midseason, and what that might mean for the rest of it. Last year was shocking but excusable; this season, if my projections are right, could be much more of an existential jolt to the franchise’s self-image. Even if the Warriors stay all-in on this group and don’t cut salary, they may have trouble making to the play-in tournament, let alone the main draw.”