Fresh off their championship win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the previous NBA season, the Golden State Warriors are looking to further bolster the team's roster. Following a whirlwind trade experience in July, Jason Thompson has finally found a home in the California team. Thrilled to play alongside NBA greats such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the former Sacramento Kings cannot wait to have his own "playoff experience."
The newest addition to the Warriors' roster boasts of career averages of 9.4 points. Thompson's stint with the Sacramento Kings allowed him to achieve 6.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists within 26.5 minutes accumulated over the course of 541 regular-season games. From these matches, Thompson came in the starting lineup 405 times. His hitting stance is at 49.7 percent from the field.
Prior to landing a spot in the NBA Finals' champion's team, Thompson was with the Sacramento Kings as the 12th overall draft in 2008. In July, Thompson bid goodbye to the Kings as he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with Nik Stauskas and Carl Landry. However, his stay with the 76ers was cut short when the Golden State Warriors expressed interest in him following the departure of David Lee to the Boston Celtics for Gerald Wallace.
"It's definitely a bittersweet situation," Thompson said, referring to the roundabout way he took before finally landing a highly coveted spot in the Golden State Warriors roster, according to NBA.com. The former Kings player added, "I was traded to a team, growing up in Philly and I didn't play a game, then coming to an organization coming off a title, I haven't been around much winning this past seven years."
Presumably comparing the Golden State Warriors with the Sacramento Kings, Thompson appreciated the established strategies and systems of the California team. Citing that he went through years with a "lot of instability," Thompson could not wait to finally get rid of such distractions and only focus on the game. While he admitted that the approach and the way things are handled in the Golden State Warrior will be "a little different" especially since the team just came off an NBA championship, the former Sacramento Kings player shared his enthusiasm to learn the system and to offer his skills in both offense and defense. "They have that format that works," Thompson continued, "so you obviously you don't want to come in expecting to do too much."
Meanwhile, the offseason fanfare is slowly dying down. Hence, NBA fans will be betting on which teams will make the finals once more. With the spectacular 67 wins of the Golden State Warriors throughout the previous NBA season, followers of the California team are hoping to see a repeat performance - that is, if the Stephen Curry-led group does not rest on their laurels.
Judging from the way the Golden State Warriors are forming their roster, however, it looks like this upcoming NBA season will see a continuation of their impressive rise to the top. While the NBA Finals trophy in the California locker room definitely bolsters the confidence of the Golden State Warriors, another confirmation reaffirmed the quality of players the team have as Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson are now among the handful NBA stars chosen to be part of the USA 2015 Men's National Team Minicamp Roster. With four Golden State Warriors included in the list, the California team stands to be the most represented NBA team in the roster.
With these factors in mind, could it be possible for the Golden State Warriors to beat the record set by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and win 72 (or more) games this season?
