Kerr concerned for Warriors' lack of rim protection

Having added Kevin Durant to a 73-win core, the Golden State Warriors are as close as it comes to being perfect.

But they did have to make some sacrifices to bring in Durant, and head coach Steve Kerr has some concerns about his defense.

"The thing that’s different will be a lack of rim protection," Kerr told Monte Pool of CSNBayArea.com. "We had great rim protection from (Andrew) Bogut and (Festus) Ezeli, and both those guys are gone. Zaza's (Pachulia) a very good defender, but he's more of a positional guy than a shot blocker."

Bogut and Ezeli soaked up the majority of minutes at center for the Warriors, and they were effective in their roles. However, in order to sign Durant to a maximum contract, both players had to be let go.

Ezeli signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, while Bogut was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks. That's 2.7 blocks per game out the door.

As Kerr mentioned, the Warriors were able to salvage the loss by snagging Pachulia on the cheap. However, he's not a threat to block shots like his predecessors (career 0.3 blocks per game) so the Warriors will have to re-think their game plan.

"There's definitely adjustments we'll have to make, even schematically. We'll have some growing pains, especially on defense, as we try to make sure we get everything right and comfortable," Kerr said.

However, the Warriors do have four excellent defenders to lean upon. Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson are excellent stoppers on the perimeter, while Kevin Durant and Draymond Green should be able to hold down the fort inside the paint.

Golden State was in the top five in terms of defensive rating for the past three seasons. Extending that run to a fourth season without much in the way of shot blocking will be a challenge.