The Warriors on their last three season openers found themselves in foreign territory. They no longer were seen as the kings of the NBA sitting on the mountain. They no longer faced the bigger target with a bull's eye on their backs.
First there was the offseason where Golden State lost Kevin Durant to free agency and Klay Thompson for the entire season to a torn ACL. Steph Curry broke his hand in the fourth game of the 2019-20 season, and the Warriors won a league-worst 15 games. Thompson again was out for all of the next season, this time to a torn Achilles from a pickup game, and the Warriors lost two straight in the play-in tournament.
Nobody saw last season coming. But it brought the Warriors back to what they were used to for so long. They're the hunted again, with offseason drama that gives opposing fan bases even more fuel to the fire. How will the reigning champions respond?
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Here are three bold Warriors predictions going in the 2022-23 NBA season, starting Tuesday night with a date against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco.
Four All-Stars
Curry when healthy is a lock every single season. He's the obvious one, both on production and popularity. Fans far and wide will make sure Curry becomes a nine-time All-Star.
Having every argument necessary as perhaps the best player in the game right now doesn't hurt, too. He stole the show for his first All-Star Game MVP last season, and he'll be in Utah for the weekend of Feb. 19.
Golden State Warriors
The next-most likely Warrior to receive an invite might be the biggest surprise. A determined Draymond Green has been a scary sight for the rest of the league in the past. Green is entering his 11th season, and he has never been questioned this much. A big response will go a long way.
Last season, Green played like a man on a mission, one with his eyes on a second Defensive Player of the Year before going down to a back injury that sidelined him for two months. He was extremely determined to be an All-Star last season and was proud of getting his fourth nod. Now, he has never been more determined and a fifth trip to the exhibition game will be just another way to hush his naysayers.
Andrew Wiggins was perhaps the biggest All-Star surprise last season. A slump that lasted throughout the month of February and beyond didn't help his case. Being maybe the Warriors' second-most important during their championship run did. He no longer is playing in a contract year. Instead, he truly has found a home.
Following his impressive run in the playoffs, Wiggins knows he can snatch more than 4.5 rebounds per game. That number jumped to 7.5 in the postseason, and 8.8 in the NBA Finals. He's a true two-way threat. After last season, his regular-season numbers, defense and impact very well could result in his second All-Star appearance.
That leaves us with five-time All-Star Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, who is coming his four-year contract extension and looks primed to step into status as a star around the league.
Thompson returned from missing the previous two-and-a-half years to average 20.4 points in 32 regular-season games. He's going to take his shots, he's going to put up his points. The Warriors also are going to remain cautious with him to hopefully have their Splash Brother at full strength for the playoffs.
Poole is 23 years old and can easily gain a lot of popularity in a hurry. He plays with the kind of sizzle that fans love to see. How he handled his incident with Green should only help him with admiration in The Bay and among fans elsewhere. Marketability surely is on his side as well.
So are his skills. In Year 3, he made a major leap. There's no reason he won't make yet another jump this season.
Poole Party
After finally returning on Jan. 9, 2022, Thompson finished as the Warriors' second-leading scorer, trailing only Curry. Can there be a shift in the tides? This isn't to say Klay is going to take a big step backward. It's to not delay the inevitable.
For the 2022-23 season, Poole will be the Warriors' second-leading scorer. He was the Warriors' second-best offensive player in the duration of the regular season, and the same goes with the playoffs. When it comes to the starting lineup, don't overthink it.
Yes, Thompson will be the Warriors' starting shooting guard. That of course pushes Poole to the team's Sixth Man role. He averaged 13.7 points per game in 25 regular-season games off the bench last season, compared to 20.8 in 51 games as a starter.
Here's the reality: Poole is still going to get starts. The Warriors aren't going to push Thompson over the course of an 82-game regular season. Poole is nearly 10 years younger than him, and ready to play as many minutes as Steve Kerr will give him.
When he had to be the main scoring option down the stretch with Curry out to a foot injury, Poole averaged 26.0 points in the final 13 games. Plus, his scoring averages actually increased from 17.5 points before Thompson completed his comeback to 19.2 with Klay on the court.
The Warriors again have turned into a true pick-your-poison offense, and Poole is right near the head of the snake.
Crashing The Computers
Bet against the Warriors at your own risk. It sure didn't work last season.
Per our partners at PointsBet, the Warriors' over-under wins total going into the 2021-22 campaign was 47.5. Some outlets had them even lower. They wound up winning 53 games.
In the Finals against the Boston Celtics, the Warriors were given a 14-percent chance to take home another title. They won it all in six games. The players heard the chatter, they saw the numbers and they took a whole lot of joy in crashing the computers.
And they're about to do it again.
Back on the road to repeating, the Warriors' over-under for wins this season per PointsBet is 52.5. That's the same number as the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks. It's two wins fewer than the Celtics' over-under.
The Warriors should win at least 53 games, and flirt with at least 60. Their focus is on the 16 wins of the playoffs. They're also deeper and more dangerous than a year ago. Compared to others around the league, Golden State's top five is as good as anybody's. The same goes with the Warriors' next five.
Veteran stars like Curry, Thompson and Green all should get more rest this season. In years past, that would have been a major blow. But this squad truly goes 11 players deep, and that number might grow.
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No matter how stacked the Warriors have been before, they've never loved being called favorites. They want their backs against the wall. They thrive in that position.
With teams like the Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves and others receiving plenty of offseason love, the Warriors will kindly invite any chip that rests on their shoulder. Then they'll go enjoy yet another ring night before finding any way to play with a prove-you-wrong mentality once again.