What Do The New Acquisitions Bring To The Warriors?

Mike Dunleavy Jr. is an NCAA champion, a third overall pick from back in 2002, and was vice president of Warriors basketball operations when Steph Curry and the crew dismantled the Boston Celtics in 2022. He may be the newest general manager of one of the most prestigious NBA teams in league history, but he didn't waste any time at all in celebrating his new promotion. No, no, no. Instead, he got to work immediately, and in the span of just a few short weeks, he's managed to patch up many holes that Golden State had in 2023, and as a result, the Warriors are now bigger, more complete, and more versatile. What once looked like a bit of a mess is now looking quite formidable, and in today's video, I'll be going over exactly what the new acquisitions bring to Golden State. I'll start things off with their newly acquired stretch big, Dario the homie Sharage. But just before I get into what he'll bring to the Warriors, let's go over who Dario is very quickly. So, for starters, he stands 6 foot 10 and plays both the power forward and center positions. When it comes to weight, he's a bit on the lighter side for his position, weighing in at about 225 pounds. Unlike most NBA players who go the traditional route of college, Dario, being the international player he is, decided to play professionally in Europe first, and even withdrew himself from an NBA draft once in order to gain more experience. When it comes to his resume, Dario has an impressive one. In European FIBA competition, he was the MVP in both the U16 and U18 tournaments. When he played in the Croatian League, he was both a champion and a finals MVP. When he was in the Adriatic League, he was their top scorer, their MVP, and their finals MVP. He was a champion in the Turkish League, and when he played for the EuroLeague, he made the 50-40-90 club and led the league in free throw percentages. Then when he finally moved over to the NBA, he made the all-rookie first team. Sheesh guys, talk about a resume. So, with an impressive history like that, it's needless to say that Sharage knows how to play basketball, knows how to win, and at 29 years old, he's now a veteran who knows his role. Then, the icing on the cake is that this dude is just a funny guy who will be great for the locker room. Anyway, what Dario brings to the Warriors is huge, and let me break that down here. First and foremost, his presence on the court gives the Warriors easy bucket opportunities in the paint. You see, although he's a bit small to bang inside with centers like Brook Lopez, Joel Embiid, and Steve Adams for example, with all the off-ball screen action that the Warriors run, there's bound to be mismatches that come his way, which he could take advantage of. Like in this example where Klay Thompson was defending him. As Dario recognized the mismatch, he fought to get positioning, then when he got fed the ball, it was just a one-footed step-back practice shot. The following happens again here. Once there's a mismatch down below, Dario recognizes it, gets fed the ball, then capitalizes for the easy bucket. These types of effortless plays were a huge hole in the 2023 Warriors offense, but Sharage will find them perfectly going forwards. Another hole which he fills is being a big stretch. So uh, his ability to hit perimeter jump shots does two main things for the Warriors offense. First off, like in this example, although he's not exactly at the three-point line, Dario draws out the Spurs 6'11 center just enough for his teammates to attack the basket without the threat of a rim protector. This will be huge for someone like Steph Curry, who will take a lot more opportunities to attack the basket now without the threat of getting blocked. Because as you can clearly see, if the opposing center decides to cheat off Sharage, it'll lead to a wide open tray for the Croatian shooter. Then, in addition to his size and shooting abilities, Dario also plays that European brand of basketball which is full of off-ball movements and backdoor cuts. So, that falls in directly with how Steve Kerr runs the Warriors offense. Another acquisition which will be HUGE for Golden State is Trace Jackson Davis. Honestly, I can't believe the Warriors were able to draft someone of his caliber with the 57th overall pick. I mean, he played four years of college and was voted as the runner-up to the Naismith Player of the Year. He's also 6'10 with a 7'1 wingspan and because he's almost 24 years old, he already had ample time to grow his body, as he's currently nearly 250 pounds. Now, it doesn't take a genius to see that he's going to fit in perfectly with both Steph and CP3 running the show. Small to big combos of attacking the rim was sorely missing in last year's Warriors run, and Trace will definitely give them more variations of attacking the basket. I mean, I'm sure Chris Paul is already salivating over potential pick and opportunities with Trace. Anyway, what Trace also provides the Warriors is more rest for Kevan Looney. Let's face it, although Looney is a soldier who will never complain about the duties that Steve Kerr asks of him. He looked absolutely gassed last year in that King series where he averaged like 15 rebounds, but on 30 minutes per game. I still expect Trace to take a backseat to Looney, but as a younger and more athletic build, he can definitely share some of those minutes in helping Looney both battle the boards and protect the rim. The cherry on top of all this is that this man is a leader. I know he'll just be a rookie with the Warriors, but last year while playing for Indiana, he was the team captain and set the tone for the team when it came to both on and off the court behavior. He's the type of player who demands the best from both himself and his teammates, and that type of attitude will go a long, long way with the Warriors. And with that being said, I want to now touch on Chris Paul very quickly. Honestly, I'm super stoked that the Warriors got CP3. He's the type of player that you hate going up against, especially when he's doing that annoying rip-through move. When he's on your team, however, you suddenly love both him and that rip-through move. Anywho, the level of basketball IQ that CP3 will provide Golden State is going to be off the roof. He's going to be a master manipulator, and his understanding of how to manipulate defenses to get the shots he wants will prove to be invaluable. This is going to be absolutely huge during non-Curry minutes. I mean, in the past, the Warriors were almost always outscored when Curry went to the bench. But finally, they'll have another consistent bucket getter that could be relied upon. Then, in addition to what CP3 provides by scoring, he also knows how to get the most out of his teammates. Kaminga, Moody, and Trace will all benefit from this, not only from a scoring standpoint, but from a development standpoint as well. You know, I really hope they don't stagger the minutes and put CP3 and Curry on the floor at the same time, because then that size may be an issue. But if they take turns, and if the Warriors could have one of them on the floor at all times, then like I said earlier, bench production will increase significantly, which was a huge issue in 2023. And speaking of the bench production, Lester Keownas is another huge development for the Warriors. I know he's not a new acquisition for the Warriors per se, but his development has really been eye-popping, and for all intents and purposes, the Lester from last season is not the Lester from this season. Anyway, during the Summer League games so far, he's been drawing heavy comparisons to the Pool Party. I mean, whether it's attacking the basket in the half court or in transition, Lester can do it all. He also has a smooth looking stroke that can drop bombs from beyond the perimeter, then when you factor in his willingness to go inside and battle for rebounds, you have a solid replacement for Curry or Paul if they're on the bench or resting for a game. The absolute cherry on top for Lester is the fact that he's a two-way player. The man is literally fighting for a contract and will be hungry to give 2024 everything he has from an effort standpoint. Corey Joseph is the other guard acquisition that they signed to a one-year deal. Although I don't see him getting too many minutes, he'll be a solid fill-in for when Steph or CP3 are load managing. Brandon Podziemski, on the other hand, was the Warriors' 19th pick of the draft, and he is a 6'5, 20-year-old combo guard who shoots and rebounds really well for his position. Unfortunately, however, Steve Kerr hates playing 20-year-olds as evident from the last couple of years, and for that reason, I see Brandon playing most of his 2024 minutes with the Santa Cruz Warriors. All in all, the Warriors' 2024 have gotten better. They filled in a ton of gaps that were exposed last year, and if they could just stay healthy, the skies will be the limit, and I personally can't wait to see Chris Paul's rip-through move again.