After a 12-3 record to start the 2024 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors have now lost 13 of their last 17 games. With a record of 16-16 before the start of the New Year, they currently stand tenth in the Western Conference standings and are now battling for a spot in the Play-In Tournament.
To start the year there was one glaring difference in this Warriors team compared to those of last decade; Klay Thompson. After being drafted to the Bay Area in 2011, Thompson was a key piece in Golden State’s four titles in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Throughout his tenure with the Warriors, he became known as one of the best three-point shooters ever and the perfect match in the backcourt with Stephen Curry. After his ACL injury in the 2019 Finals, Thompson struggled for multiple seasons to get back to his prime, and through that time, his relationship with the front office steadily declined.
After not receiving a contract extension from the Warriors, Thompson signed with the Dallas Mavericks over the offseason on a three-year $50 million deal. Though his production wasn’t what it once was during his best years with Golden State, the departure of Thompson and the breakup of the team’s ‘Big Three’ including Curry, him and Draymond Green has been a key factor in the Warriors decline this year.
After losing Thompson to free agency, Golden State added multiple pieces and gave other players larger roles, but it has yet to work out in their favor. Buddy Hield was a key addition to the team over the offseason, but so far is only averaging 12.6 points per game on 43% shooting.
Jonathan Kuminga, drafted by the Warriors in 2021, was given an elevated role in this year’s squad, but has yet to develop into the star player Golden State hoped for when they picked him No. 7 overall. Kuminga is averaging a career high 16.8 points per game, but has struggled to stay consistent and is shooting a career low 31.8% from three and 64.2% from the free throw line.
As the emotional rock of the Warriors since he joined the team in 2012, Green has stayed consistent in terms of statistics, but is shooting a ten-year low from the field at 41.1% and a career-low 60% from the free throw line. Green has expressed his frustrations with the team’s performance to the media, putting the pressure on himself and his teammates.
“You gotta win games or I told the guys we all gonna get traded out of here so we better win some games,” Green said to the media after a recent loss. “It’s hard but it was working, we’re 12 and 3 or whatever we were. It was working. But it’s not working. You have to look at what works. And if that’s me at five, like I said I don’t love it for entire games at this point but I love to win.”
Franchise centerpiece and one of the best players of all-time, Curry has also had a somewhat disappointing start to the year, averaging only 22 points per game. He still has the ability to rain down threes on any given night, but the aging star is now 36 years old and doesn’t look like he can single-handedly lead this team to the promised land in a loaded Western Conference.
The Warriors went on a one-of-a-kind run through the second half of the 2010s, and capped it off winning the 2022 NBA Championship, but as seen with the loss of Thompson and the aging Curry and Green, they clearly don’t have enough to bring back the magic with this current roster. Most recently Golden State has been in trade rumors surrounding Jimmy Butler, De’Aaron Fox, and even LeBron James in hopes to strengthen their roster for a playoff run.
Most recently, the Warriors picked up Dennis Schroder from the Brooklyn Nets, but through seven games with the team he has yet to find a significant role in the roster. If they don’t act soon, Golden State’s run could be over as quickly as it started a decade ago, and without finding pieces to mesh with their existing stars, things could get worse quickly. As of December 31, 2024, the Warriors are 18th in offensive production with 111.5 points per game and 26th in shooting at 44.3% as a team.
The NBA trade deadline is on Feb. 6, and if the team doesn’t make a big move to add another star or fix their inefficiencies, this could be it for the most successful team of the last decade.
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