Iguodala: Warriors bench will be better than last season
Getting Kevin Durant this summer came at a cost.
Not only did the Golden State Warriors lose two useful rim protectors, the team also had to gut some of their depth in order to scrape together enough cap room to accommodate Durant's maximum salary.
However, super sub Andre Iguodala doesn't see it that way. In his eyes, the Warriors bench has actually improved compared to last year.
"I think our second unit will be better, actually," Iguodala told reporters.
Head coach Steve Kerr backed up Iguodala's claim.
"I think a couple people have either said or written that our bench is going to be not necessarily suspect but weaker than last year," Kerr said. "We’ve got every reason to believe we can play the same way, with strength in numbers and play a lot of people."
Golden State lost several bench contributors in the offseason, but they recovered nicely by adding Zaza Pachulia and David West to go along with Shaun Livingston and Iguodala (who formed the backbone of Golden State's bench over the last two years).
| Additions | Departures |
|---|---|
| Kevin Durant (2/$54.3M) | Harrison Barnes (DAL) |
| Zaza Pachulia (1/$2.9M) | Andrew Bogut (DAL) |
| Elliot Williams (vet minimum) | Festus Ezeli (POR) |
| David West (vet minimum) | Marreese Speights (LAC) |
| Patrick McCaw (draft) | Leandro Barbosa (PHX) |
| Damian Jones (draft) | Brandon Rush (MIN) |
Durant's addition should also help the second unit. Last year, their bench struggled to generate quality offense outside of occasional hot flashes from Marreese Speights or Leandro Barbosa. With Durant joining ranks with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors can stagger their star scorers to support the bench.