3 biggest Warriors overreactions to the first week of the 2024-25 NBA season

The first week of the 2024-25 NBA season has been quite the wild ride for the Golden State Warriors.

In their season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, they set a new franchise record for the largest season-opening margin of victory with a 140-104 win.

In game two, the Dubs made all sorts of NBA history after walloping the Utah Jazz by a score of 127-86. Not only did Golden State become the first team to ever win its first two games of a season by 35 points or more, but the combined 77-point margin of victory is the largest in league history in the first two games as well.

In those two wins, the Warriors' reserves accounted for an incredible 150 points — 70 against the Blazers and 80 against the Jazz — the most points scored by bench players in a team's first two games since the Elias Sports Bureau began tracking such things in 1970.

Forty-nine of those points, of course, came from new addition Buddy Hield, who scored 22 against Portland and 27 against Utah. His point total is the largest of any Warriors bench player in history through his first two games with the team, and his 12 three-pointers were the most by any player in his first two games with any team.

However, things didn't go quite as smoothly for Steve Kerr's squad in their home opener this past Sunday night. Not only did they lose to the Los Angeles Clippers, they also lost Stephen Curry to an ankle injury and backup point guard De'Anthony Melton to a back injury. Both will miss at least the next two games, both of which are against the New Orleans Pelicans, and each will be re-evaluated on Friday.

So, again, it's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride.

As things go today with the presence of social media, there have naturally been all sorts of things said about this team and plenty of its players thus far. But, come on, it's only been three games. Nevertheless, let's have a look at a few things that have transpired over this first week.

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Warriors overreaction 1: Golden State is back and will contend in the West

With a 36-point victory to open the season and a 41-point win in game two, it's easy to get excited. And plenty of Warriors fans did just that, some claiming that Golden State was fully back after missing the playoffs a season ago after losing to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament.

But let's pump the brakes just a touch, shall we?

Yes, it was exhilarating watching this new-look roster perform at such a high level in those two victories. But let's get real here. Those wins came against two teams that are expected to finish at or near the bottom of the Western Conference.

Now, had the Dubs dominated the Dallas Mavericks or the Denver Nuggets or the Minnesota Timberwolves like that, we'd be looking at things a bit differently. But they didn't.

When they did play a halfway decent team in the Clippers, they lost. And that was a Clippers team without Kawhi Leonard. The bench cooled off in that defeat as well, accounting for just 39 of Golden State's 104 points. Hield also cooled off, making just three of 14 shots from the floor and only one of nine from beyond the arc en route to eight points.

Look, this is a deep roster, one of the deepest Kerr has had from an overall standpoint, even without Klay Thompson. And I do believe Golden State will surpass its 46 wins from a year ago. But let's not call the Warriors a top contender in a loaded West until they've beaten better teams.

Plus, if Curry's injury costs him more games than the two he's already set to miss, that will be a problem, no matter how deep this roster is.

Warriors overreaction 2: Andrew Wiggins is back to being an All-Star-caliber player

Kerr made an interesting lineup choice to open the season, opting to put Andrew Wiggins at shooting guard, a position he hasn't played much in the last seven years or so.

And thus far, for the most part, it's worked out.

It's no secret that Wiggins struggled a bit in each of the last two years, which was obviously disappointing to Golden State fans who watched him earn his first trip to the NBA All-Star Game in 2021-22 and play a big role in the Warriors' title run that season.

Again, though, he's looked pretty solid through the first three games of the year, shooting 55% from the floor (his career average is 45%) and a remarkable 57.9% from the three-point line (his career average is 35.6%). Wiggins currently leads the team in scoring with 19.7 points per game and has added 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per night.

What's not to like?

Here's the thing, though. One of the biggest issues with Wiggins throughout his career has been consistency. Timberwolves fans saw it for years, and Warriors fans have seen plenty of it in the last two seasons.

Wiggins has been great thus far. But can he keep it up? That's the concern here. Now, nobody can expect him to continue shooting like this. But as long as the dropoff isn't overly significant, he could very well make a second trip to the All-Star Game. We simply need a larger sample size. And, again, we need to see it against better competition, although he did light up the Clips for 29 points.

Warriors overreaction 3: Brandin Podziemski wasn't worth keeping

It's no secret that the Warriors were attempting to lure Lauri Markkanen away from the Jazz this offseason. However, there were several reports saying Utah demanded that Brandin Podziemski be included in any trade, which Golden State apparently refused.

Talks stalled, of course, and Markkanen ultimately signed a five-year, $238 million deal to stay in Salt Lake City.

And given how Podziemski has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, many Warriors fans are wondering if he was worth keeping.

The third-year guard was the only Warrior not to score against Portland. And while he bounced back nicely against the Jazz, hitting seven of 14 shots en route to 15 points, he struggled against the Clippers, going just 2-for-8 from the floor and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, putting up just four points.

We hate to keep saying it, but it's only been three games. The organization clearly believes it has something special in Podziemski. And while the situation isn't ideal, he's about to get his chance to prove it. With both Curry and Melton out of the lineup, the 21-year-old is seemingly set to become Golden State's primary ball-handler and will likely see more shot opportunities as well.

These next couple of games obviously won't define his season, but it will give Warriors fans a chance to see how he handles the pressure.