Warriors prepared for next chapter without Klay as new season begins originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — The excitement of a new NBA season permeated throughout Chase Center on Monday as the Warriors welcomed the hustle and bustle of Media Day — and with it, the team’s first campaign without Klay Thompson.
But that doesn’t mean Splash Bro’s presence hasn’t been felt despite his offseason. departure to the Dallas Mavericksfrom reporters asking countless questions about him to some surprising forms of communication between Thompson and his former Golden State teammates being revealed.
“Klay, that’s my dog. We are still playing a game of chess. We played this morning,” Moses Moody said with a smile. “[He’s] me right now He had a doubles game winning streak, but I’ll fight back. That’s my dog, good guy.
“It goes to show, just because he’s not on our team anymore doesn’t mean the relationship changes. There is no loss in that sense. He is still my friend, can still hang out with him and talk to him.”
Moody is just one of many Warriors adjusting to a new reality without Thompson in the Bay Area, and it’s something the team will face on and off the court this season as a void in leadership and scoring accompanies his absence.
That new normal, while difficult, is one that Golden State feels more than ready for.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Kevon Looney said. “A guy like that, he’s been here a long time — he’s been here a long time. He helped build a special team and a dynasty and his spirit will always be missed. But you know, he was a great mentor [to] many young children. And he showed us the way of a Warrior and how to play and how to carry yourself. …
“Something you can’t replace, but I think we have the people and the character in the locker room to keep it going.”
There’s no denying that Steph Curry and Draymond Green have the leadership corner covered, even without the third member of their dynastic trio. But that did not stop young people like Podziemski, a 2023-24 first team All-Rookie selection, of stepping up in that section in his second season.
“[My teammates] expect me to be a leader,” Podziemski said. “I think I naturally have those qualities to be a leader. So being a more vocal leader, but also showing guys in a positive light leadership things, especially our new guys.
“I think right on the court is a connector, like [coach] Steve [Kerr] like to call it, and do all the right things to help our team win.”
The onus is now on the Warriors to fill Thompson’s scoring void. Despite a somewhat down year during the 2023-24 campaign, Thompson was Golden State’s No. 2 scorer behind Curry, averaging 17.9 points and 3.5 3-pointers per game.
The hope is that offseason addition Buddy Hield can help pick up some of that slack — a task the ninth-year pro is taking one step at a time with training camp set to begin in Hawaii on Tuesday.
“You just have to take your time, trying to figure out the pass, the cut, the screening. Learning from Steph, learning from Draymond, Steve, the coaching staff, the players,” Hield said when asked about picking up some of the scoring after Thompson’s departure. “… Just figure out how I can be effective in helping everybody score and feeding all of them.
“I think it’s a fun adjustment. In basketball, you come to a new job, they’re all great people and all great guys. I don’t think it will be difficult to try to pick up their trends. Sometimes it might take a while, but it’s fun.”
Curry is confident he and Hield will find out their on-court chemistry, which of course won’t compare to what he had with Thompson right off the bat.
“Dude’s a shooter. He’s confident in his game and we need that,” Curry said of Hield. “… I’m not too worried about it, but it’s on the list of all the things we have to figure out as a team to put everything together.”
Hield and Curry certainly won’t be alone in that regard. Podziemski has made it an offseason goal to improve his 3-point shooting after conversations with Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy, and Andrew Wiggins is looking to become more involved in the offense after falling short of expectations last season.
Also don’t count out Gary Payton II or Looney, who both said they developed their game include more shots from deep – although the latter knows he is not Thompson.
“I’m not going to be out there chasing threes just yet. Like I’m not going to be out there like Klay or somebody,” Looney said. “But when it comes time to stretch the floor to be able to make an open shot — to practice threes out of rhythm. You know, I’m not just catch and shoot all the time.
“Learning how to do it with a pick and pop, doing it with a ball reversal, doing it when a guy doesn’t hold you … Just learning how to get into the flow.”
It’s the start of a new chapter for the Warriors — and, for some, a new approach to their own skill set — but the team’s first comments since Thompson’s departure made it clear there’s still plenty of love for the shooter in their building.
That is, until the Mavericks visit Chase Center the nov. 12.
“Especially, we will be missed [Thompson] on the court,” Payton said. “We know what he brings. He’s a hard-shot-maker, hard-shot-taker. You can’t really duplicate what he does.
“We’ll miss him, but excited to kick his butt pretty soon.”
As Thompson makes his fresh start in Dallas, Golden State is poised to do the same.
