SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� After missing the playoffs for just the second time in more than a decade with a healthy Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors team never shy about making splashy additions might have been expected to pull off something big in the offseason.
They were linked to some potential big moves like a possible trade for Lauri Markkanen or Paul George but ended up settling for smaller additions that general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. believes will be enough to get Golden State back near the top of the Western Conference.
鈥淲e鈥檙e probably as impatient as a franchise as you can be right now given our time horizon and all that,鈥� he said Thursday. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a fine line between impatience and undisciplined. I think I feel good about the discipline that we held this summer and the roster we built and the growth from within that we鈥檙e going to have.鈥�
Golden State lost franchise pillar Klay Thompson and Chris Paul from a team that won 46 games and lost in the first round of the play-in tournament and added versatile guard De'Anthony Melton, top shooter Buddy Hield and veteran big man Kyle Anderson in smaller moves that still give the Warriors a chance to do something bigger if it materializes during the season.
But for now, Dunleavy wants to see what a roster led by Curry and Draymond Green, with a hopefully revitalized Andrew Wiggins and developing young players like Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and Tracy Jackson-Davis, can do.
鈥淲e鈥檒l take a look at it, see where we鈥檙e at,鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淭he good news is we鈥檝e got plenty of ways to get better from the outside, but right now we鈥檙e fully behind this team, and we think they鈥檙e going to have a great year."
Coach Steve Kerr is excited about the possibilities, but knows it could be a challenge at first trying to figure out the right combinations on a team that needs to replace the scoring of Thompson and is incorporating several new players.
But he said he has already sensed a good vibe from his players during summer workouts and believes Golden State might be better than outsiders think.
鈥淚 do think that we鈥檝e been forgotten about a little bit,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t makes sense where we are. We didn鈥檛 make the playoffs last year. That鈥檚 how it works. But I鈥檓 excited. I think we were pretty good last year, and if you win 46, that means something. Normally that鈥檚 a five or six seed in the playoffs. I still think we鈥檙e really good. We鈥檒l miss Chris and Klay, but it also opens up an opportunity to maybe play a little bit differently.鈥�
It will all get started next week with the Warriors heading to Hawaii on Tuesday for the start of training camp. This will be the team's first trip to Hawaii since 2007.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be good for guys to get away,鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淵ou get off that plane, the warm breeze blows in your face, and it鈥檚 just a good place to have training camp and get better. I鈥檓 glad we鈥檙e doing it. I鈥檓 not sure it鈥檚 going to be a regular thing, but on the whole we鈥檙e all pleased to be going.鈥�
NOTES: Dunleavy said the team has no injury concerns to start training camp. ... Dunleavy said the team is talking with representatives for Kuminga and Moody about signing them to extensions before a deadline on Oct. 21. He said if deals don't get done by then, the team still wants to keep both players next summer.
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AP NBA:
Josh Dubow, The Associated Press
