The Golden State Warriors will always rely most on the long-ball as long as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are wearing blue and gold. But they sacrificed the rim for the arc more than ever last season, the Dubs' 26.9% share of attempts at the rim and 44.7% rate of three-point tries ranking at the very low and very high end of their shot-profile spectrum during the Steve Kerr era, per Cleaning the Glass.
There's only so much Golden State can do to address that massive discrepancy in 2023-24. Mass attention drawn by Curry and Thompson behind the three-point line creates easy scoring opportunities for teammates across the floor, and it's not like Chris Paul, Draymond Green or Kevon Looney will suddenly morph into explosive, above-the-rim drivers and finishers.
But the Dubs' playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers laid bare just how stale and one-dimensional their offense had become. There's only one Anthony Davis, and only a couple more monster interior defenders who can almost single-handedly shut off the paint while their teammates aggressively over-play Curry and Thompson, daring them to shoot from mid-range or attack the basket with opponents frantically trailing behind them.
Still, Los Angeles' defensive blueprint is bound to be copied by other teams this season, and Golden State needs a counter to that approach other than spamming ball-screens for Paul whether or not Curry is on the floor.
How the Warriors can increase rim pressure in 2023-24
Could additional rim pressure be that much-needed curveball? The Warriors won't be veering away from their ingrained offensive identity just to crease the paint more frequently. With a pick-and-roll maestro like Paul flanked by long, athletic wings and forwards like Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and even Moses Moody, though, don't be surprised if Golden State improves on its 29th-ranked rate of shots at the rim in 2023-24.
“We don’t necessarily tell the guys, ‘Hey, we want to improve our percentage.’ But it is something we always wanna do is try to put pressure on the rim,” Kerr told ClutchPoints on Wednesday. “As Kuminga continues to develop and grow and he gets more time, that number should go up…We’ve never been a team that’s had a ton of finishing at the rim—I’m talking about from the center position—other than JaVale and Bogut some on lobs. But for the most part with Loon and Draymond, we kinda play inside-out and obviously shoot a ton. But the more we can get to the rim the better. Some of it comes from personnel, some of it is execution.”
Paul's court vision and ability to manipulate defenses will open extra defensive creases for the Warriors to exploit with cuts and attacked close-outs. More playing time for Kuminga will definitely help Golden State amp up its frequency of shots at the basket, and so will spacing the floor across five positions by playing Dario Saric at center. A fully healthy Payton could loom large as a pick-and-roll dive man and lurking in the dunker spot, too.
There are many ways for the Warriors exploit the numbers advantages inherently created by the threat Curry and Thompson pose as perhaps the two best shooters ever. Getting downhill to the rim with greater frequency is just one of them, but could be the wrinkle that helps take the Warriors' offense—tenth in efficiency a year ago—back toward the very top of the league this season.
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