It’s been a couple days of mixed emotions for the Golden State Warriors.
The day of the draft, in which the team was pegged to draft second overall, news broke that Klay Thompson had sustained “a lower leg injury” working out. Some reported that it was a serious injury, but no one knew exactly what was up.
Thompson missed last season rehabbing a torn ACL injury so Golden State fans naturally freaked out. That potentially-somber news was almost-immediately countered by the news that the Warriors selected James Wiseman with the #2 pick. The left-handed, multi-talented big man that played for the University of Memphis opened an exciting new chapter for Golden State.
At this point, Golden State looked stacked. With Wiseman at center, Thompson and Steph Curry at the guards spots, and Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green at the forwards; the starting five for the Warriors was different, but if they could get it together they were loaded.
The NBA talking heads and and analysts all had Golden State coming back this season and placing somewhere between third and fifth in the always-tough Western Conference.
The NBA betting industry along with this online guide predicted Golden State’s chances for success similarly: if the Warriors were going to reverse their odds from last year, they would quickly need to integrate their new players and let Curry and Thompson get back into game shape. If you were a betting person or talking head, you knew the Warriors were poised to make some noise this season.
All those predictions and expectations came crashing down when the worst-case scenario came down on Klay’s injury; Thompson suffered a serious injury; tearing his Achilles and would be out the entirety of the 2020-21 NBA season. There was an outpouring of support from fellow NBA players, but no doubt the Warriors’ prospects for the season took a tremendous blow.
Then in the late afternoon – just a few hours after the Thompson news came out – there were multiple reports that the Warriors would take on the luxury tax in order to obtain Kelly Oubre Jr. from the Oklahoma City Thunder. As of this post, the details of the transaction haven’t been released, but if the Warriors are able to pull this off, they’re bringing in another left-handed newcomer with a lot of potential. Oubre is tough competitor, a capable scorer from the outside and effective going to the basket.
It’s been an emotional roller coaster for the Warriors and their fans over the last 36 hours, but even with Thompson out they have a lot of look forward to for the upcoming 2020-21 seasons which kicks off in approximately one month from today.