The Golden State Warriors addition of former MVP Kevin Durant won't necessarily change the team's outlook on offense, according to their star Stephen Curry.
“It won't change at all,” Curry told ESPN's Darren Rovell. “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.”
The thing to take away from his words is how they have to be themselves to make things work. A hesitant Curry or Durant is not one that poses threats, but playing assertively within the system is something that will show results.
What it means to add Durant to the lineup
While there's only so many possessions in an NBA game, the Warriors defense and pace of play is bound to create more shot attempts, though it would be nonsensical to think that every player will attempt 15-to-20 shots per game.
Most people fail to grasp that while shot attempts will go down with KD on the lineup, shot quality goes up tremendously.
Having another threat on the floor will expose mistakes and sacrifices of the opposing defense in order to contain someone from scoring.
System and coaching
Golden State's system will likely remain very similar to last season, with maybe a few tweaks. Why would they change it? Few teams were able to beat it.
As long as the Warriors play instinctually, they should not have any problems finding the open man.
The biggest adjustment will be Steve Kerr scaling substitutions. He no longer can swap 5-for-5 as he used to because the bench is just not that deep.
Taking Klay Thompson or Durant out early and inserting them with the second unit will provide shot opportunities for them and balance out the scoring.
Dealing with the media
The Warriors have almost become experts at this, since they had plenty of media attention last season because of the streaks and records they broke.
Dealing with the ‘villain' tag won't be an issue, at least according to the reigning MVP.
“All that narrative around our team, how people view us, doesn't really matter to us,” Curry said. “We are who we are and we're championship contenders going forward.”
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