There is going to be an adjustment period as Kevin Durant works to fit in with the Golden State Warriors. They know it. With all the roster changes Golden State had to make to get Durant — goodbye Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli — this is like putting a new team together.
But Stephen Curry doesn’t believe he is going to have to change his game to fit Durant in, as he told Darren Rovell of ESPN.After Durant signed with the Warriors, Thompson insisted that he wasn’t changing his game to accommodate the team’s newest addition. Curry says he won’t either, which won’t be a surprise to Durant.
“It won’t change at all,” Curry said. “That’s the reason KD joined -- knowing we weren’t going to sacrifice anything, that we all have to be ourselves to make things work. There will be some adjustments when it comes to the in-game flow and how we work together, but for us to be who we’re supposed to be, we all have to kind of elevate ourselves.”
Define change your game.
Curry is right in that he’s still going to be a playmaker with the ball in his hands, shoot threes, and the Warriors will work to keep the same style of play.
But there will be sacrifices. Durant is a playmaker too, he will have the ball in his hands at critical points as well. There will be fewer shots and fewer points for Curry, as well as for Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. You can define that as a sacrifice and not changing his game, but it’s certainly going to be an adjustment.
All those adjustments could mean a slower than expected start for the Warriors. However, the team that figures things out and plays after the All-Star break will be fierce.