News - Golden State Warriors - dazman
LaVine Leading Dubs to New Heights
The trade of Kyrie Irving has placed Zach LaVine squarely in the spotlight as the leader of the Warriors squad. Gone is the "your turn, my turn" offense lead by Irving and LaVine, now LaVine is the straw that stirs the drink. He's taking to the role like the script was written with him as the lead character. The last few weeks have seen LaVine spending more time with the ball in his hands and the offensive creation his responsibility. After a bumpy early going, things are starting to turn around in the bay area. The team is just 9-13 since the roster recreation around the trade deadline, however seven of those wins have come in the last three weeks (7-2 in that span). LaVine deserves a lot of credit but these wins wouldn't happen without solid performances from the team overall.
Khris Middleton was a big part of the Irving deal and has had a rough go of things since arriving in San Fran. He's averaging fewer points and shooting worse from three while playing roughly the same minutes per game as he did in Brooklyn. If Middleton can start knocking down threes at his career rate (44% career versus 27% as a Warrior), he'll transform from an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly and give the Warriors a lot more punching power behind LaVine.
There's one player on this roster who gets very little praise but continues to put in a tremendous effort every night, that man is Jericho Sims, of course. While not getting much love in the NBA, Sims is a walking double-double in the NSL. Sims' rebounding is the real key to his level of performance this season, he ranks 7th in offensive rebounds per game in the NSL. Consistently giving the Warriors second chance looks is a great way to guarantee playing time going forward. The most impressive part of Sims' season may be how much he's been available. He's played 81 games this season and is playing his 82nd as this is being written. Without his consistent numbers, this season may have looked even worse.
As the season finale plays out, the Warriors front office has to feel pretty good about where things stand. The roster overtook a pretty substantial overhaul at the deadline to build a better foundation for the future. But, this roster is playing well enough to project a play-in appearance next season (the relative youth of the roster helps with those projections). There will be more discussions this summer about the direction of this roster and the players on it. For now though, Warriors fans should enjoy the good form and end the season on a high note.
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