Early season grades for the Warriors: Who’s living up to the hype?

It was hard to know quite what to expect from the Golden State Warriors coming into this 2024-25 NBA season.

With the Dubs coming off a ninth-place finish in the Western Conference and a loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament, most pundits predicted roughly the same type of season.

Some thought it might even go worse, as the Warriors parted ways with franchise cornerstone Klay Thompson in the offseason, shipping him to the Dallas Mavericks.

But that hasn't mattered in the slightest. With the players the Warriors acquired in what turned out to be a six-team trade, specifically Buddy Hield, those they added in free agency like De'Anthony Melton, and those already on the roster, obviously including Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, Steve Kerr has arguably the deepest team he's ever had, which is saying something.

While we're only a few weeks into this 2024-25 campaign, this new-look roster has been nothing short of spectacular, which is why you're about to see a lot of high marks as we hand out some early-season Warriors grades.

And just to get the first one out of the way, Kerr himself gets an easy A+ for how he's handled this transition, putting the right combinations in at the right times and making every adjustment he's needed to make.

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Grading the Warriors' starting five

Kerr has tinkered with the starting five in the early part of the season, which isn't uncommon for him. He was also forced to do so a few times, as several players have missed multiple games with injuries, including Curry, who missed three with an ankle issue.

So, while not every player you see in this section has started every game, these have been Kerr's most common starters thus far. You'll notice Moses Moody here, who's started just four games but is about to see a lot more time with Melton out for the foreseeable future with an ACL sprain.

Stephen Curry: A

Steph Curry is just doing what Steph Curry does.

He got off to a bit of a slow start and put up just a dozen points in the Warriors' loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. But that game clearly lit a fire under him, as he went on to put up 36 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and another 37 against Thompson and the Mavs, the latter highlighted by a 12-point barrage late in the fourth quarter.

Curry is currently shooting 43.2 percent from the three-point line, and if that continues, it would mark his highest clip since 2018-19.

Draymond Green: A

While Draymond Green continues to excel on the defensive end, he's contributed more offensively as of late.

After averaging just 4.0 points in the first four games, he's put up 11.4 per contest in the last seven, adding 6.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists. The Warriors don't need Green to score, but when he does, it's just a nice bonus.

Andrew Wiggins: B

We can't say that Andrew Wiggins is having a bounce-back season just yet, as his overall numbers are pretty comparable to what they were a season ago.

What we can say, though, is that he's bringing a lot more energy than he did in 2023-24. And that certainly counts for something. The inconsistency that's plagued him for years is still there, but overall, he's played well and seems to know his role.

Trayce Jackson-Davis: A-

Like it goes with Green, Golden State doesn't need a ton of offensive production from Trayce Jackson-Davis.

But when he does decide to shoot the basketball, he continues to do so with remarkable efficiency, connecting on 68.4 percent of his field-goal attempts, which is actually down from his 70.2 percent clip a season ago. Still, that's obviously fantastic, and his presence in the paint defensively has been a bit underrated. He's exactly what Kerr needs him to be at this point.

Moses Moody: B+

Moses Moody had a remarkable preseason, leading the team in scoring.

And while that was never going to be the case once games started to matter, he's still producing nicely, averaging a career-best 9.2 points while shooting 47.9 percent from the floor and 44.2 percent from the three-point line, both of which also career-highs.

With Melton going down, one would think Moody's minutes (and shot attempts) will rise.

Grading the Warriors bench

The Warriors' reserves have been incredible thus far. Buddy Hield is easily one of the favorites to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and Jonathan Kuminga has thrived since being taken out of the starting lineup. So, let's start with those two.

Buddy Hield: A

Klay who?

With Thompson out of the mix, Buddy Hield has stepped in and put up roughly the same numbers as Captain Klay did last year. He's just been more efficient about it.

In 24.5 minutes per game, five fewer than what Thompson averaged a season ago, Hield is averaging 17.6 points, second only to Curry, and is shooting 49.6 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from distance. By comparison, Thompson averaged 17.9 points in 29.7 minutes while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor and 38.7% from the three-point line.

Jonathan Kuminga: B+

Had these grades been handed out after the Warriors' first three games, Jonathan Kuminga likely would've received a D or an F, as he just couldn't get anything going.

But since moving to the bench, he's thrived, averaging 17.3 points while shooting 52.0 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc, all of which would stand as career-bests taken out over an entire season.

Those early games still have to be taken into account, so that's why you see the B+ above. But he's undoubtedly trending in the right direction.

Brandin Podziemski: C-

Brandin Podziemski has easily been the biggest disappointment thus far.

As the Warriors reportedly refused to include him in any offseason trades, they clearly view him as an important piece of the puzzle moving forward. But while he's shown flashes here and there, overall, he's struggling on offense, shooting just 38.9 percent from the floor and a team-low 19.5 percent from distance.

Podziemski is another player who will likely see more minutes with Melton out, so he'll need to pick it up.

Kevon Looney: A

Kevon Looney continues to be a solid backup big man, averaging 5.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and a steal in 16 minutes per game. Can't ask for much more than that.

Kyle Anderson: B

The fact that Kyle Anderson ranks third on the team in steals despite playing roughly 16 minutes per game is a testament to what he brings to the Golden State defense off the bench.

He's not shooting the ball all that well on the other end, with a team-worst 36.4 percent shooting percentage, but he wasn't brought in to be a scorer.

Lindy Waters III: C+

Outside of that 21-point performance against the New Orleans Pelicans, Lindy Waters III hasn't contributed much, scoring just 10 combined points in the five games that followed, shooting just 23.5 percent.

After logging just five minutes against the Boston Celtics, Waters didn't see any action against the Thunder or the Mavericks.

Gary Payton II: B

With the Warriors having such a deep roster, most thought Gary Payton II would kind of be the odd man out, and that's essentially what's happened.

After averaging nearly 15.5 minutes last year, Payton isn't even getting a dozen this year. And that's with two starts. But when he's out there, he's produced nicely enough, shooting 70.6 percent from the floor in putting up 5.0 points per game.

De'Anthony Melton: C+

When healthy, De'Anthony Melton is a solid player. And in the six games in which he's appeared, the former Sixer did his job, averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in just over 20 minutes per game.

But keeping him on the floor has proven to be a challenge. He missed several games with the same sort of back injury that forced him to miss much of last season, and he's got the aforementioned ACL strain that will keep him out indefinitely.