Kevin Durant is gone. Andre Iguodala was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Klay Thompson isn't expected to return from a torn ACL until after the All-Star break. Despite the clear uphill battle facing the Golden State Warriors next season with a more balanced Western Conference, Thompson believes that it's a "little ignorant" to proclaim that the Warriors' dynasty is over.
Even though the Warriors will be without two important players—Durant and Iguodala—in their vaunted lineup, it would be foolish to overlook the pieces that still remain. As long as Golden State makes it to the playoffs, they will have two of the best shooters in the league in the battle-tested Splash Brothers. Draymond Green will be entering his contract season where he must prove his worth to his team.
The Warriors almost silently acquired a third scoring option in D'Angelo Russell this summer. They inked another rim protector in Willie Cauley-Stein to back up Kevon Looney while adding decent role players, Glenn Robinson III, Omari Spellman, and Alec Burks, to fill out their roster. Robinson, Spellman, and Burks aren't mind-blowing signings, but they will give the Warriors a better bench that will lean heavily on the same Big 3 of Curry, Thompson, and Green who led the team to their 2015 title.
The Warriors have appeared in the last five NBA Finals where they have won three of those contests.
"I knew I did something. But I've never had the severity of an ACL injury or an injury that bad," Thompson said to ESPN on Thursday. "So me, personally, I didn't think it was that bad, initially. My adrenaline was so high being Game 6, whatever. I thought I sprained my knee; that's all I thought it was.
"But when I went back to the locker room, it swelled up a lot, didn't feel right. It's just not a good feeling when you feel helpless and the team's out there competing."
