The Golden State Warriors have created a super-team this offseason. Adding Kevin Durant to a team that won 73 games last season seems unfair to say the least. The Warriors will be the favorites to win the title by far.
Despite the seemingly impervious nature of the Warriors, the team will have its share of problems as well. Any team with that amount of firepower must figure out the proper allotment of shots and role between its players.
The player who will perhaps be most affected by the Warriors’ roster changes is Klay Thompson. The Dubs’ shooting guard will likely take a step back with Durant’s addition to the team. For some players, that could be a difficult adjustment. For Thompson, it appears to notbe much of an issue at all.
In fact, Thompson is already speaking about modeling his role after that of another tertiary option (via Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN):
“I look at a guy like Manu Ginobili who came off the bench almost his entire career,” Thompson said. “Never averaged more than 20 points a game, but he’s a four-time champion, you know? He could have easily been on another team and averaged 25 a game, but he sacrificed to win, and that’s what I expect to do next year. I don’t care about averaging 25 or even 20. I just want to finish it out and get back to the Finals and enjoy that ride.”
Thompson’s role will be different than that of Ginobili. He is not expected to be the point guard of the second unit as the Argentinean was for the Spurs for many years.
However, it will be similar in that Thompson will often have to takea back seat to better players. He will have moments where he can take over a game because of his shooting ability. But Klay Thompson’s role will be diminished. Fortunately, he seems okay with that.
