Exclusive: Baron Davis promises Warriors 'surprise' this season
Yesterday at 06:04 PM
Baron Davis knows a thing or two about leading the Golden State Warriors. The former two-time All-Star guard is best known for leading Golden State to arguably the greatest upset in NBA postseason history when the No. 8-seeded Warriors defeated the No. 1-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs.
Despite the 67-15 Mavericks entering as the unquestioned favorites behind MVP Dirk Nowitzki, the 42-20 Warriors defeated Dallas in six games, with Davis averaging a series-best 25.0 points per game on a ridiculous stat line of 54.0% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc.
The current incarnation of the team may enter the season in the same tier as the ’06-07 Warriors. The Warriors are coming off of a 46-36 season in which they missed the playoffs after losing their play-in game following a 10th-place finish in the Western Conference.
However, they return Steph Curry – who is coming off of a sensational season – along the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and youngster Jonathan Kuminga. That’s not even mentioning the offseason additions of veterans Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. Davis expects the Warriors to “surprise” a lot of people.
“I expect the Warriors to surprise a lot of people,” Davis said in an interview with ClutchPoints on behalf of his entrepreneurship platform, Business Inside The Game. “When you look at last year, I think they were a play-in team. But when you look at the up-and-down roller-coaster where they were — where they could have been — it was a matter of three or four games.”
What Davis means is that the Warriors were only a mere four games away from being in the fifth seed in the Western Conference, where the 50-32 Dallas Mavericks finished. The Mavericks ended up advancing to the NBA Finals.
“When I put my player and coach lens on, we were four games away from being in that fifth spot,” says Davis. “This team can be four games better than last year’s team. I think they have more talent, or just as much talent, fresh and good energy for the Warriors and then the young guys will have bigger responsibility.”
Davis’ take on this year’s Warriors are different from his old teammates. Both Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, teammates of Davis from the ’06-07 squad, see them as more of a play-in team and not a championship contender.
Baron Davis still believes in Warriors
While the Warriors will obviously be operating without the services of longtime Splash Brothers teammate Klay Thompson, they’ll do so with a new nucleus featuring Anderson. He has played in 66 playoff games over the past 10 years while Hield once averaged 20.7 points per game in a single season and is a career 40.0% shooter from beyond the arc.
Brandin Podziemski is poised to step into a full-time starting role at shooting guard with the departure of Thompson. Podziemski averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on 38.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc in his rookie campaign, leading to a selection on the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
“I expect a lot out of Brandin Podziemski,” Davis said. “I think they did well with the Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield additions. They have veteran guys that can help them win games.”
“When you think about Buddy Hield, one of the top 3-point shooters in the league, partnering with Steph, Steph needs the other guys around – and Draymond as well – they need the other guys around to evolve into who they want to be,” Davis continued. “And that makes Draymond and Steph even more dangerous. I like the Warriors.”
When asked if he thinks the Warriors will be better than they were last year, Davis gives a definitive answer, yes.
“I think they’re going to be better than they were last year, for sure,” Davis said.
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