2014-15 NBA Season Preview: Golden State Warriors

Welcome to theScore's preview of the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors. Visit our preseason hub for previews of all 30 NBA teams.

Golden State Warriors

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2013-14

If you ever needed an example of how unfairly difficult the NBA's Western Conference was last season, look no further than the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors won 51 games in 2013-14 and as a result of their success were stuck with the Los Angeles Clippers as a first-round playoff opponent. Those 51 wins would have been good for third in the Eastern Conference. 

The Warriors were led by another phenomenal season from guard Steph Curry. He averaged career highs with 24 points and 8.5 assists while maintaining quality averages from all over the floor. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson continued to develop alongside Curry, scoring a career high 18.4 points per game while improving his shooting percentages. They combined to form a perimeter scoring nightmare for opposing teams every night, getting up shots when even a sliver of open space presented itself. 

Curry and the Warriors pushed the Clippers to seven games in a wildly entertaining series, falling 126-121 in an electrifying Game 7. 

Offseason Roundup

The first thing the Warriors did this offseason was install a new presence on their bench. They fired coach Mark Jackson on May 6, and introduced his replacement Steve Kerr a week later. 

With Kerr in place, the Warriors went about filling out their bench depth. Six-foot-7 point guard Shaun Livingston was brought into the fold, giving the second unit some length, experience, and perimeter defense that should ease Curry's load on both ends of the floor. 

Brandon Rush returned to the team after spending the 2013-14 season with the Utah Jazz, another perimeter threat with size to spare on the wing. Leandro Barbosa followed shortly after, giving the Warriors three experienced backcourt pieces to keep lineups fresh. 

There were heavy rumors throughout much of the summer that Thompson was being dangled in trade talks - specifically involving Kevin Love - but the Warriors refused to budge and will go into the season with the Splash Brothers running the show once more.

Additions

G Leandro Barbosa (1/$1.4M)
G Shaun Livingston (3/$16M)
SG Brandon Rush (2/$2.5M)

Departures

C Hilton Armstrong (waived)
G Steve Blake (free agency)
G Jordan Crawford (free agency)
C Jermaine O'Neal (free agency, possible retirement)

2014 Draft

The Warriors traded their 2014 first-round pick in the move that brought them Andre Iguodala in July 2013, and moved their second-round pick in June 2013 in the deal that landed them Nemanja Nedovic. 

Starting 5

• PG Steph Curry
• SG Klay Thompson
• SF Andre Iguodala
• PF David Lee
• C Andrew Bogut

Breakout Player: Harrison Barnes

Barnes was rated the No. 1 player in the 2010 college basketball recruiting class according to several different publications, setting off a career that has been heaped with expectations and little payoff. 

After two seasons at North Carolina, the five-star recruit set his sights on the NBA. He had struggled with inconsistency in his NCAA career, but his pedigree and potential kept him as a strong lottery pick, where the Warriors snatched him up seventh overall in the 2012 draft. 

The issues that hounded him in college followed him to the NBA. Through two seasons with the Warriors, he's averaged 9.3 points per game, and last year he shot under 40 percent from the floor. The numbers are a far cry from the visions of dominance dancing in the heads of scouts the first time they laid eyes on his 6-foot-8 frame. 

At 22 years old, 2014-15 shapes up as a make-or-break season for Barnes. There were criticisms last season that head coach Mark Jackson was using Barnes improperly, so it will be up to Steve Kerr to maximize his previously untapped potential.

If Kerr can unlock the key to Barnes's game at the next level, the Warriors will add another weapon to an already stacked scoring lineup. If not, don't be surprised if Barnes ends up elsewhere when the dust settles. 

Season Expectations

The Warriors expect to score a ton of points every night behind Curry and Thompson, and the long arms of Livingston and Iguodala are intended to slow penetration into their sometimes-leaky rim protection. 

They got 67 games from center Andrew Bogut last season, and if he can repeat that, they will have a good chance to pick out a top-five seed in what's sure to be another season of stiff competition in the Western Conference. 

The line separating the upper crust in the West is thin, and the Warriors can hang shot for shot with anybody. The tough competition means this team can end up as a title contender, an eighth seed, or anything in between. 

1 to Follow on Social Media: Andre Iguodala

Iguodala is known as one of the premiere two-way players in the league, a man who takes pride in his stifling defense and ability to run the floor. 

Off the court, Iguodala is one of the league's premiere tweeters. He stirred up plenty of emotion and reaction in his response to Richard Sherman's NFC Championship game tirade, but it is nowhere near his best social media work. 

Iguodala's feed is not for the easily offended, but is definitely for the easily entertained. Plus, how did he possibly score the handle @andre? Amazing.