Warriors coach Steve Kerr faces brand new challenge

LAS VEGAS - Should he have time between practices and hearty meals, Warriors coach Steve Kerr can venture to the casinos here and learn more sobering news about his team.

Unlike the past five years, the general public does not believe the Warriors will win the NBA championship. Bovada tabbed the Warriors with 14/1 odds to win the NBA championship, while granting more favoritism to the Houston Rockets (12/1), Philadelphia 76ers (10/1), Milwaukee Bucks (6/1), Los Angeles Lakers (7/2) and Los Angeles Clippers (11/4).

“I’d rather be the favorite again, to be honest with you,” said Kerr, who is on Team USA’s coaching staff for the FIBA World Cup (Aug. 31-Sept. 15). “I like coaching. Every year is a little different. This will be a lot different.”

Yes, it will be. Three years after the Warriors sold Kevin Durant during a meeting in the Hamptons, Durant left for Brooklyn after winning two NBA titles and two Finals MVPs. Once considered veteran stalwarts, Andre Iguodala (traded to Memphis) and Shaun Livingston (waived) became salary cap casualties after the Warriors acquired All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell as part of a Durant sign-and-trade with Brooklyn. Once considered durable, Klay ?Thompson will miss at least half of next season after injuring his ACL in his left knee in a ?decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto in the NBA Finals.

So after winning three NBA titles in five Finals appearances, the Warriors are no longer making tentative plans for championship parades.

“It’s so different from the last few years where we could, barring disaster, we knew we were going to win a whole lot of games,” Kerr said. “It was a lot more about preparing for the playoffs and whether we won 57 games or 65 games, it didn’t really matter that much. What a luxury to be able to say that. Now with all the new additions and the losses we’ve had, it’s really about establishing who we are as a team. We don’t know who we are. We knew who we were the last five years. It’s a brand new challenge.”

It is a brand new challenge that boasts more questions than answers. How well can Stephen Curry and Draymond Green carry the team without Durant, Thompson, Iguodala and Livingston? Will Warriors reserve forward Kevon Looney remain steady? Will Russell and center Willie Cauley-Stein compensate for the scoring void that Durant and Thompson left? Can the Warriors’ youth movement work with second-year guard Jacob Evans as well as rookies Jacob Poole, Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagic? Without Durant, how will the Warriors handle their wing position with Glenn Robinson III, Alec Burks and Alfonzo McKinnie?

Kerr will have more clarity to those questions in training camp. The main question: will Curry and Green increase their workload? Or will Kerr handle them more with care? Last season, Curry averaged 33.8 minutes per game and missed 13 contests because of injuries. During that same stretch, Green averaged 31.3 minutes per game and missed a combined 16 games with different ailments.

“It’s tough to say before we even get on the floor,” Kerr said. “But I’m not throwing them out there for 40 minutes a night. I know that.”

Kerr also seemed somewhat comfortable that the Warriors still have Curry, Thompson and Green as their core players. Curry remains under contract through the 2021-22 season at a combined $129 million. The Warriors re-signed Thompson to a max deal worth $190 million through the 2023-24 season. Instead of waiting on a deal potentially worth $204 million through five years, Green agreed to a four-year $100 million extension this week.

Kerr argued that “nobody deserves it more” than Green because of his established credentials as a defender, playmaker and leader. Green arguably deserved even more had he won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year next season for the second time in his career, which would make him eligible for a super max contract.

“It didn’t surprise me that Draymond signed. He wanted to be here. He talked about it all along,” Kerr said. “To get signed long term and to make that kind of money, the biggest mistake anybody can make in this league is compare yourself to somebody else and worry about what somebody else is doing, whether you’re a coach or player. If you can be happy with your own circumstances, playing for a team and playing for what is already an enormous amount of money and set up your family for life, it’s tough to argue with that.”

As for the rest of the roster? Kerr said that “the first month or two will be critical in terms of establishing our identity as a team.” He might know Russell’s identity much sooner. Kerr plans to talk with Russell when Team USA practices in Los Angeles next week. Kerr has said he envisions tweaking his offense to include both ball movement and heavier use of pick-and-rolls at a faster pace.

“I’m confident we’ll score points. We’ve added some guys who can put the ball in the basket. A bigger concern is defensively,” Kerr said. “We’ve lost really our ability to switch at multiple positions and do so with size and aggression.”

Hence, the Vegas odds on the Warriors’ title chances. That has not sapped Kerr’s enthusiasm for his job, though.