The Golden State Warriors will head into this 2018-19 season with a completely different challenge of any other title-contending team, developing their young players.

While teams like the Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Los Angeles Lakers try to break down potential ways to dethrone the Warriors, Golden State's main mission during this preseason is figuring out which of their young guns is more apt to start at center when the regular season rolls in.

“What we’re learning in this camp is about our young guys,” said head coach Steve Kerr, according to Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News. “We’ve got to take advantage of the youth, the energy.”

“Some of our other players are going to have to step up into stronger leadership roles. That’s kind of the fun part of each year being different. You get to see how it all blossoms. And I think our fans will enjoy that process, too.”

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The Warriors are in a unique position, as their fifth and recently-acquired All-Star, DeMarcus Cousins, will be in the shelf for the first few months as he comes back from a season-ending Achilles injury. Cousins isn't the only player they will miss, as the newly-retired David West will also be another cog the Warriors will have to live without.

“David is irreplaceable,” said  general manager Bob Myers. “David’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. People like that just don’t come along that often. So we will miss him dearly.”

Golden State will have to draw from three candidates to man the starting center spot when the season starts on Oct. 16 — Jordan Bell, Kevon Looney, and Damian Jones — three prospects that have shown glimpses of the talent they could showcase if given ample minutes, but they will need to show consistency, before all else, to warrant their name getting called among the starters on ring night.