The Golden State Warriors will hold their training camp in Laie this week, and coach Steve Kerr appears to really be looking forward to it.
“I really want to instill grit and toughness, and nothing can define that more than mai tais and sunsets and luaus,” Kerr said during a Zoom meeting from San Francisco on Thursday.
All kidding aside, the Warriors have their work cut out for them as the franchise attempts to recapture recent past glory.
Golden State, which last held its training camp in Hawaii in 2007, won 46 games and lost in the Play-In Tournament last year and recorded 44 victories and lost in the Western Conference semifinals in 2022-23. The Warriors won four NBA titles from 2014-15 to 2021-22.
Kerr, Steph Curry and Draymond Green are still around from the successful run, but many feel Golden State’s time among the elite has ended.
That notion wasn’t helped when two likely future Hall of Famers — Klay Thompson (sign-and-trade) and Chris Paul (waived) — departed during the offseason.
Curry and Thompson, who played 13 seasons together, were affectionately known as the “Splash Brothers” for their prolific 3-point shooting.
“We’ll miss Chris and Klay, but it also opens up an opportunity to maybe play a little bit differently,” Kerr said. “It opens up a void for other guys to fill in where they can lift their games up, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t improve on last year’s team and have a great season, and then you roll the dice from there.”
The Warriors’ training camp will start Tuesday with practices at BYU-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center. It coincides with the Los Angeles Clippers’ camp at UH’s Stan Sheriff Center.
The teams will play a preseason game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Clippers will be holding their fifth training camp in Hawaii since 2017. The Warriors were frequent visitors to the islands in the 2000s.
Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy, who was drafted by the Warriors with the No. 3 overall pick in 2002, was a part of a few training camps here.
“It’s been in the works for a few years. I think especially with Steph and Draymond, those guys have always wanted to do it,” Dunleavy said during the same Zoom meeting. “Being on the West Coast, you’re accessible to it. It’s not an easy trip, it’s not cheap, but it’ll be a good bonding experience.
“It’ll be good for guys to get away. You get off that plane, the warm breeze blows in your face, and it’s just a good place to have training camp and get better. I’m glad we’re doing it. I’m not sure it’s going to be a regular thing, but on the whole we’re all pleased to be going.”
Kerr said he’s vacationed to Hawaii with his family numerous times, and he expects players’ families to make the trip next week.
“The families will come. Players … just to change the vibe,” Kerr said. “We’ve done it so many years in a row here, at Chase or at Oracle. Sometimes going away for camp is really valuable because you bond. You’re in a beautiful spot in Hawaii, so you’re also getting to enjoy yourself with your family, with your teammates.”
The main players
The 36-year-old Curry, a 10-time All-Star and two-time NBA MVP, can be counted on for 25-plus points and five assists per game.
Green, a four-time All-Star, is a threat to put up a triple-double stat line any given game.
“We have a generational talent in Steph Curry, got Draymond Green, who’s one of the more unique, all-around players in the NBA, and after that we’ve got a ton of pieces and depth and youth and experience and just all the things you want in a team,” said Dunleavy, who is in his second season as Warriors GM.
Of course, the Warriors need the 34-year old Green to be on the court.
He served two suspensions last season for on-court incidents.
“I think he’s taken strides since last season, the incidents that occurred, to remedy that,” Dunleavy said of Green. “I don’t have any doubt or hesitation as far as Draymond being available for those reasons.”
Returnees ready
Dunleavy had a very successful first draft with the Warriors.
Brandin Podziemski made the 2023-24 NBA All-Rookie first team and Trayce Jackson-Davis just missed making the second team.
Jonathan Kuminga, in his third year in the league, increased his scoring six points to 16.1 per game.
“Last year he had a really nice jump, and if he can take another one this year it’ll be great,” Dunleavy said. “We’re pleased with his growth, his progress, and we’re excited to see what he can do this year.”
A lot of talk this season will be about replacing Thompson, a five-time All-Star who averaged 19.6 points in his Warriors career. Podziemski and Buddy Hield will be compared to him — perhaps unjustly — because they’ll be slotted into the shooting guard position.
Kerr and Dunleavy both feel forward Andrew Wiggins, in his 11th NBA season and sixth with the Warriors, will be the player who will likely pick up the scoring slack.
Wiggins, an All-Star with Golden State three seasons ago, averaged a career-low 13.2 points last season while dealing with the illness of his father. Mitchell Wiggins, a former NBA player, died earlier this month.
“He’s very much at peace,” Kerr said. “He’s at the age where he’s right in his physical prime, and we’ve seen him do it. He helped us win a championship.
“I’m expecting a big year from Wiggs. I think there’s also a void that is left by Klay’s absence that we need to fill. That’s a lot of points to score.”
Said Dunleavy: “I think he’s highly motivated coming off of last year. I think he’d be the first to admit he didn’t have his best season. Been in the gym all summer. Can just sense a little bit different vibe from him this time of year. His body looks great. He’s in good shape, ready to go.”
New arrivals
Golden State’s star power took a hit with the departures of Thompson and Paul (9.2 ppg., 6.8 apg.), but this year’s Warriors appear to have a lot of depth.
Golden State has 10 players in training camp who started at least 10 games last season, including three who did so with other teams.
“I feel pretty confident I might start Steph probably, if he earns it,” Kerr said. “What I love about this camp is that we do have spots available. We’ve got a lot of guys who have started a lot of games.”
Golden State’s key acquisitions over the offseason were Hield and Kyle Anderson, who were part of the six-team sign-and-trade that sent Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks, and free-agent signing De’Anthony Melton.
“What I like about the guys we signed — De’Anthony, Kyle and Buddy — I think they all fit a lot of lineups,” Kerr said. “They’re the kind of players that can thrive with different groups of players around them.”
Season outlook
For the first time in a decade, Golden State won’t be viewed as a top team in the league.
“Yeah, I do think that we’ve been forgotten about a little bit,” Kerr said. “It makes sense where we are. We didn’t make the playoffs last year. That’s how it works.”
It doesn’t help that the Western Conference appears to be stacked once again.
“You can go up and down the list of the teams in the West. Everyone is going to be really good,” Kerr said.
Aside from players jelling, Golden State will need to address certain areas in order to find success.
Dunleavy said the Warriors need to defend better and play more effectively in transition.
Last season, Golden State allowed 115.2 points per game, which ranked 18th-highest in the 30-team league.
“We’ve got to get back to defending at a high level. We’ve got to be in the top five, six, seven in the league in defense at least.”
Kerr said he wants the team to improve on its 13.7 turnovers per contest, which was eighth-most in the league.
“We’ve got to improve our decision-making,” he said. “Hopefully that comes with some maturity for our younger players, but also some high-IQ basketball from our newer players. Steph and Draymond, they’ve got to lead the charge on that.”
GOLDEN STATE’S TOP PLAYERS IN TRAINING CAMP
(stats are from last season)
!-Kyle Anderson (F, 11th season, 6.4 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 4.2 apg.)
Steph Curry (G, 16th season, 26.4 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 5.1 apg.)
Draymond Green (F, 13th season, 8.6 ppg., 7.2 rpg., 6.0 apg.)
x-Buddy Hield (G, 9th season, 12.1 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 2.8 apg.)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (F, 2nd season, 7.9 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 1.2 apg.)
Jonathan Kuminga (F, 4th season, 16.1 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 2.2 apg.)
Kevon Looney (F, 10th season, 4.5 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 1.8 apg.)
@-De’Anthony Melton (G, 7th season, 11.1 ppg., 3.7 rpg., 3.0 apg.)
Moses Moody (G, 4th season, 8.1 ppg., 3.0 rpg., 0.9 apg.)
Brandin Podziemski (G, 2nd season, 9.2 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 3.7 apg.)
Andrew Wiggins (F, 11th season, 13.2 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 1.7 apg.)
x-played for Indiana and Philadelphia
!-played for Minnesota
@-played for Philadelphia
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NBA preseason in Hawaii
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Clippers
>> When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
>> TV: NBA TV (Spectrum channel 242)
