Klay Thompson was one half of the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history and was an integral piece in the greatest dynasty of the modern era, winning four championships in eight seasons. Klay averaged 19.6 points per game as a warrior and was over 20 ppg every season from 2015 to 2022 before he started to show signs of regression coming off of his achilles tear. Klay made 2,481 three pointers and provided elite perimeter defense throughout the warriors dynasty. After the 2022 season, regression seemed to start setting in for Klay, he was not shooting as well as he was in the past, and he seemed to be growing unhappy in his role and what was going on in Golden State. With that, he left Golden State for the first time in his career and joined the Dallas Mavericks, closing a chapter on a historic several years as a member of the Warriors.
On paper and following a down year, the loss of Klay Thompson did not seem to be a huge deal as many thought Klay was past his prime and on the decline, but if the Warriors wanted to get back into title contention, they were gonna need to fill the hole that prime Klay left behind a couple of years ago. In the same offseason Klay leaves, they acquire another one of the NBA’s elite 3 point shooters, and he seems to be filling that void for the Warriors almost perfectly.
Buddy Hield joined the Golden State Warriors on a two year deal worth $21 million following a six-team sign-and-trade deal. In six games since joining the Warriors, he is averaging 22.2 points per game and shooting a ridiculous 51.7% from three on almost ten attempts a game. They are on a three game win streak in the absence of Steph Curry and Buddy Hield has led them in scoring in all three of those games. Jonathan Kuminga seems to be developing well and they are getting serviceable production out of their role players such as Brandon Podziemski and Moses Moody. They rank 4th in offensive rating so far this season, scoring 121 points per game and shooting over 48% from the field and over 40% from 3. They are also second in the NBA in defensive rating trailing only the undefeated Thunder. Even without Steph for half of their games so far, the Warriors are playing extremely well on both sides of the ball.
The Warriors have not had the luxury of being a very competitive team without Steph Curry since the KD era. Off to a 5-1 start and proving they can be competitive and find ways to win games even without their best player, the Warriors may be a team to worry about once again. Buddy Hield has been a huge part of this hot start to the season, and it seems that the Warriors may have found the perfect replacement for Klay Thompson. Don’t sleep on the Warriors, they might just do it again.
