Preseason has begun. Basketball is back. We get to watch bad international teams get spanked by NBA teams that are hardly trying. It’s preview season!

We move along with the five-time defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors.

2018-19 Finish: 57-25, 1st in West

Who’s in: Jordan Poole (28th overall pick), Alen Smailagic (39th overall pick), Eric Paschall (41st overall pick), D’Angelo Russell (sign-and-trade), Glenn Robinson III (free agency), Alec Burks (free agency), Willie Cauley-Stein (free agency), Marquese Chriss (free agency), Andrew Harrison (free agency), Omari Spellman (trade)

Who’s out: Kevin Durant (BRK), Andre Iguodala (MEM), Demarcus Cousins (LAL), Damian Jones (ATL), Quinn Cook (LAL), Jordan Bell (MIN), Shaun Livingston (retired), Andrew Bogut (unsigned), Jonas Jerebko (overseas)

Starters

PG – Stephen Curry

SG – D’Angelo Russell

SF – Klay Thompson

PF – Draymond Green

C – Kevon Looney

Bench: Willie Cauley-Stein, Alec Burks, Glenn Robinson III, Damion Lee, Marquese Chriss, Alfonzo McKinnie, Omari Spellman, Jordan Poole, Jacob Evans

Sneaky Breakout Candidate: Willie Cauley-Stein never seemed to fit in with Sacramento’s culture, resulting in a lack of consistent effort. Golden State has proven to be a haven for cast offs to reignite their careers. He’s still naturally gifted as a rim running, switchable big man. The Warriors are the perfect spot for WCS to turn it around.

What Happened Last Year?

Golden State cruised to the West’s top seed last season, and the healthiest iteration of the roster continued its reign of terror on the Western Conference. However, they were already banged up heading into the Finals, and crushing injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson held the Warriors back from a three-peat.

2019-20 Analysis

The current NBA landscape is a lot like the ending of Avengers: Endgame. The most impenetrable force in the world has finally fallen, the rest of the universe celebrates, but its impact will be felt for years, and deep down, everyone knows the problem is not entirely fixed. Teams have been drooling for the opportunity to not be blocked off by Golden State for four years. They’ve got their chance now, but the Warriors won’t go down quietly.

Losing Kevin Durant hurts. Klay Thompson tearing his ACL in their season-ending loss is even worse. The Warriors are depleted, and had little opportunity to improve their roster, thanks to the massive (and earned) salaries of Stephen Curry and Thompson. Acquiring D’Angelo Russell through sign-and-trade with Brooklyn softened some of the blow of last year’s ending. Russell shoots well enough off the catch and is a quick enough thinker to fit into the free-flowing Warriors offense, and he adds a wrinkle of on-ball creativity that will benefit them hugely, both in the playoffs and, perhaps more importantly, he can steady the ship when Curry sits, an area even the inhuman Warriors struggled with. Trading Andre Iguodala, the ultimate glue-guy and their go-to defender on elite offensive wings, hurts, but he’s aging and expensive. You make that move every day of the week.

The Warriors are still going to be good. Curry and Draymond Green have been the same pick and roll for years, and opposing teams still don’t have a clue on how to stop it. Klay Thompson shouldn’t struggle too much to re-integrate when he returns in February or March; you don’t lose one of the three best shooting strokes of all time when you hurt your knee (his defensive agility will take longer to return to form, but he’s such a smart defender that he should be able to make up for it). Locked-in Draymond Green still elevates everyone he plays with, and is one of the four best defensive players in the league, if not the best. Russell will dazzle with high arcing floaters and Curry-lite explosions from deep. Kevon Looney will do what every Warriors big has been asked to do for five years, just at a higher level than the last few (long live Andrew Bogut).

Their depth following those five will be what makes or breaks their (regular) season. There’s not one player on this bench that they can firmly depend upon, at least at the moment. Its compiled of buy-low guys, unproven young players, and unheralded rookies. Willie Cauley-Stein and Marquese Chriss pique interest as high-energy rim runners with defensive upside (Cauley-Stein’s passing is also underrated; he’s averaged 2.4 assists in each of the last two seasons, spiked from 0.8 in his first two seasons), but both of them bring major question marks on and off the court. Alec Burks will score points off the bench, but do very, very little else. Glenn Robinson will only have so many more opportunities before people officially can give up their dream of him becoming a 3&D stud. Jordan Poole’s shooting and creation are very interesting, but he’s a guy who should be getting heavy developmental minutes in Santa Cruz, not playing ten minutes a night for a playoff contender. Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall (former Villanova teammates!) both form the mold of strong, versatile wings, but will need to consistently hit threes to earn minutes.

Record prediction: 48-34

The Final Line: When it matters, Golden State’s depth won’t make too much of a difference. The synergy of their big three has rarely been held in check over the last five years. Still, those three guys have played a ridiculous amount of basketball since 2014, even for professionals. Having just one or two reliable bench players would alleviate the potential wear and tear concerns. They’ll struggle to cruise to wins in a hyper-competitive conference, but they should still easily make the playoffs, and they might be the most dangerous 5th-8th seed of all time.