Dub Hub: ESPN projects the Warriors to be a play-in team again next season

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Friday, August 23rd.

In today’s Dub Hub:

• ESPN unveiled their win-loss projections for the upcoming season which list the Warriors as a play-in team once again.
• Bleacher Report lists new Warriors player Kyle Anderson as one of their most underrated players of the past five years.
• NBA honors the late Kobe Bryant on what would have been his 46th birthday on Friday.

ESPN recently unveiled their win-loss projections for the 2024-25 NBA season. After finishing last season as the 10th seed with a 46-36 record, the Golden State Warriors are now projected to move up to the eighth seed, albeit with one less win.

Via ESPN:

The play-in group

7. New Orleans Pelicans: 46-36

8. Golden State Warriors: 45-37

9. Memphis Grizzlies: 44-38

10. Houston Rockets: 44-38

Though the Warriors are no strangers to the postseason, last year ended on a sour note with their early exit in the play-in tournament. The team recognized they needed to retool their roster, especially after Klay Thompson’s departure to the Dallas Mavericks, and made several key offseason moves to build more efficiently around Stephen Curry with the additions of De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, and Kyle Anderson.

While they couldn’t secure the secondary star they desperately needed, the changes to the team give room for optimism. The veteran additions bring solid depth to the team, and if Draymond Green can avoid missing games due to suspension and Curry continues to play at an elite level, the Warriors could very well exceed their projected win total.

For more on this and other news around the NBA, here is our latest news round-up for Friday, August 23rd:

Warriors News:

NBA predictions 2024-25: Win-loss records for Warriors, Thunder and every West team | ESPN

The play-in group

7. New Orleans Pelicans: 46-36

8. Golden State Warriors: 45-37

9. Memphis Grizzlies: 44-38

10. Houston Rockets: 44-38

The Grizzlies will hope for a full season from Ja Morant but are staring at a play-in spot amid a tough Western Conference race. Joining Memphis could be a Pelicans side who’d rather avoid the play-in tournament after three straight seasons. The Warriors, bounced in the play-in tournament last season, signed several players to lessen the blow of losing Thompson but that may not be enough to get Stephen Curry and Co. back into the playoffs.

Thank you, Al Attles. Your legacy will live on. | Andscape

“I’ve never been caught up with how many points I scored,” Attles told The Undefeated in 2019. “I always thought about am I doing the right thing. Where am I going? Whether it’s in school, whether it’s in college, whether it’s after college with the Warriors, I really cared about doing the right thing for other people.

“My legacy? Just do what I think is the right thing. That’s all I concern myself with.”

Draymond recalls the offseason that the Warriors signed DeMarcus Cousins

Ranking the NBA’s Most Underrated Players of the Last 5 Years | Bleacher Report

In fact, get this: Anderson’s undervalued work has produced more win shares in the last five seasons than Green or Anunoby. Ditto for VORP.

It’s not just Anderson’s defense that made him so valuable over the last half-decade. Though defenses don’t honor his stilted, halting three-point shot, the 6’9” forward is a flat-out elite passer for his position. The ball never sticks when Slo-Mo gets his hands on it, and it always seems to find its way to an open scorer. Anderson’s worst ranking in assist-to-usage rate over the last five years was a 93rd percentile finish in 2020-21.

Steph Curry delivers message at the Democratic National Convention

NBA News:

The NBA offseason’s most under-scrutinized moves, from Immanuel Quickley to Max Christie | The Athletic

Max Christie was a bit of a cause célèbre for Lakers fans last season in a backup-quarterback kind of way. He was always the guy fans wanted to play instead of whatever mediocre veteran happened to be sabotaging L.A.’s second unit that night.

The problem was that A) they actually tried him quite a bit (944 minutes across 67 games), and B) he wasn’t any good (8.4 PER, minus-3.6 BPM), such that C) he couldn’t crack the full-strength rotation of what was arguably the worst bench in the league. Thus, it was a bit shocking to see the Lakers commit to a four-year, $32 million free-agent deal to bring him back, one that included a fourth-year player option. Talking to some other people around the league, I don’t think I’m alone in this opinion.

Goran Dragic’s ‘Night of the Dragon,’ explained: Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic among stars to play in farewell game | The Sporting News

15-year NBA veteran Goran Dragic has decided to call it a career, but not before stepping on the court alongside some of the NBA’s biggest stars one final time. Dragic, also known as “The Dragon” during his NBA career, will be honored in a farewell charity game cleverly titled “Night of the Dragon.”

Among the stars slated to play in Dragic’s honor are Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. As it turns out, the aforementioned four aren’t just united by their 16 combined All-NBA First-Team appearances — they each share a great appreciation for Dragic.

The game, which will be played in Ljubljana, Slovenia’s Stozice Arena, will be one final grand gesture to honor Dragic’s accomplishments in the NBA and internationally.

NBA remembers Kobe Bryant on what would have been his 46th birthday on Friday

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

4 areas where we can expect Brandin Podziemski to improve

Better free throw shooting

This one’s fairly simple. Podziemski shot 38.5% on threes, and you expect those players to shoot well at the free throw line. He also shot 77.0% on free throws in college, so we know that’s a shot he’s comfortable making.

But in his rookie season, Podz shot a mere 63.3% on free throws. A lot can factor into a young player uncharacteristically struggling at the charity stripe, mainly the increased pressure of the situation, and the decreased rhythm as they play a smaller role and get to the line less frequently (at Santa Clara he averaged 4.5 attempts per game, vs. just 1.1 with the Dubs).

You can practice a lot — and he undoubtedly is — but those are things that mostly just come with experience at the NBA level. Podziemski has never lacked for confidence on the NBA stage, but sometimes experience still trumps confidence. I’d expect his free throw mark to be comfortably starting with a seven this year.

A tweet to end the week:

Follow @unstoppablebaby on Twitter for all the latest news on the Golden State Warriors.