5 reasons the Golden State Warriors season could end with a championship in 2024

The Golden State Warriors were eliminated in the 2023 Western Conference semifinals by the Los Angeles Lakers. With Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green continuing to age, their window to add more championships is closing. Here’s how they can return to the mountaintop next season.

May 12, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) is / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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5 reasons the Golden State Warriors season could end with a championship: 3. Adding veterans to their bench with Chris Paul and Dario Saric

The Warriors bench was bad last season. Poole’s descent has been discussed and the team's only good bench player was Donte DiVincenzo. Jonathan Kuminga improved throughout the season but the bench unit's overall lack of spacing limited his ability to have a significant offensive impact, particularly when he wasn’t on the court with Curry whose rim pressure opened up a lot of opportunities for him.

Poole’s departure as well as DiVincenzo’s to the New York Knicks underscored the need for the Warriors to retool their entire bench, so they did. Poole brought Chris Paul to the team. Now if you believe what most league insiders are saying, Paul is starting. But he will also definitely lead the non-Curry minutes, and serve as a floor general who can scrap for cheap buckets and also create opportunities for others.

Those others will be Gary Payton II, who the Warriors traded for at last season’s trade deadline after he helped them win the 2021 NBA championship. They also added Croatian skilled big man Dario Saric who should be able to fill in for what Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter Jr. gave to the team a couple of seasons ago. They also added veteran guard Cory Joseph.

These additions, a full season of Payton II, and continued improvement from their retained rotation pieces should resolve the bench failures that plagued them all of last season.

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