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The Golden State Warriors' dynasty days might be over, but they are sure-fire championship contenders, just based on their star talent. Stephen Curry's 2020-21 season was one for the history books, as he broke records all year en route to winning the scoring title. He averaged a career-high 32 points per game, and finished third in MVP voting behind Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.
Meanwhile, Draymond Green might not have an All-Star selection to show for his season,, but he was nothing short of spectacular. He put on a playmaking and defensive clinic last season. Green finished third in DPOY voting, and dished out more dimes than many point guards.
However, the main reason for the giddy optimism of Bay Area fans is the return of sniper-extraordinaire, Klay Thompson. He is projected to return around Christmas 2021. If everything goes well with his recovery, the Golden State Warriors could be finding themselves right in the middle of title contention.
At the moment, the Golden State Warriors have the fourth-best pre-season odds to win the 2022 NBA championship, behind the Brooklyn Nets, LA Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. However, a lot of 'what-ifs' need to go in their favor for them to compete, at the very least, in the 2022 Western Conference Finals.
On that note, here's a look at five bold predictions for the Golden State Warriors' 2021-22 NBA season.
#1 Klay Thompson to hit the ground running
The biggest uncertainty for the Golden State Warriors heading into the 2021-22 NBA season is Klay Thompson's return and recovery.
The five-time All-Star is returning after consecutive season-ending injuries, and hasn't stepped foot on the hardwood in more than two years. Naturally, he will have to pace himself at first and slowly ease into NBA action. A projected Christmas return implies he'll be missing nearly 30 games anyway. And then we can expect him to miss a few more games as the season progresses, due to injury management.
Kevin Durant and John Wall both returned from an Achilles injury after 18 and 24 months respectively. They still missed almost half the season due to injury management. We can expect similar numbers for Klay Thompson, who will be playing after 13 months since his Achilles surgery.
The bold prediction for Klay Thompson is that he may not show any signs of rust after lacing up.
Thompson should play around 30+ games next season after his return, and average nearly 18-20 points per game. He is a marksman, and his success isn't predicated on his athleticism. So he should adjust well after coming back.
Thompson has never shot below 40% from beyond the arc in his entire careerm and hasn't averaged less than 20 points in his last five seasons. If he returns healthy and contributes even 18-20 points per game across 30+ games, the Golden State Warriors will be confident heading into any playoff series.
#2 Golden State Warriors to suffer no injuries
Naturally, any successful championship run depends on the health of a team's stars. The Brooklyn Nets, LA Lakers, Utah Jazz, LA Clippers and several other teams fancied their chances at the 2021 NBA championship,, but the injury gods cursed the entire 2021 NBA playoffs. At least nine All-Stars were hurt and absent from the postseason,, which never happened in the history of the league before.
As far as the Golden State Warriors are concerned, if Stephen Curry hadn't hurt his tailbone in the middle of the season, the team would have finished outside the play-in tournament seeds with a comfortable playoff berth.
Now for next season, the team is projected to be somewhat healthy by the time the playoffs come around. Curry intentionally gave up participating in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 to take care of his health and conditioning. Klay Thompson is progressing well in his Achilles recovery, and has started doing shooting and sprinting drills on the court.
Andrew Wiggins played 71 out of 72 games last season and is as fit as anyone can be, while James Wiseman is expected to return healthy as well. The rest of the team is far from any injury woes. So if the Golden State Warriors manage to avoid the injury bug, they could have a great season.
#3 Stephen Curry to win MVP and Draymond Green DPOY
As mentioned earlier, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both finished third in the MVP and DPOY race, respectively. But they couldn't win it because the Golden State Warriors were the eighth seed. However, this season the duo could win those awards.
Curry was unreal last season. He surpassed Wilt Chamberlain as the Golden State Warriors' all-time leading scorer, and also passed Guy Rodgers as the franchise's assist leader.
He dropped 96 threes in the calendar month of April, which helped him break the previous record by a whopping 14. Curry put nearly identical numbers from his MVP seasons. But he wasn't favored for the award because the Golden State Warriors were not a top seed, unlike the other MVP candidates.
If the team manages to grab a top-4 seed in the Western Conference and Stephen Curry continues his dominance on the court, it isn't far-fetched to say he could win his third career MVP award.
As for Draymond Green, a similar case can be made that the team was a lower seed compared to Rudy Gobert and Ben Simmons, both of whose teams were the top seed in their respective conferences. Moreover, Green is as hungry for a championship as any player on the Golden State Warriors, so he could go all out next season to get his team to the promised land.
#4 James Wiseman and the Golden State Warriors' rookies could contribute in a major way
![Golden State Warriors introduce Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody [Source: USA Today]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/09/5509e-16306655311311-800.jpg)
A major 'if' in the Golden State Warriors' equation are their rookies, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. Every news report or rumor ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft highlighted that GM Bob Myers and the Warriors want to trade their picks in exchange for a veteran.
The team has a small championship window, as the core trio consisting of Curry, Green and Thompson are all north of 31. The team's decision to draft two inexperienced teenagers on the expense of Stephen Curry's prime wasn't well-received by the fanbase.
The bold prediction here is that the team's young players could show up big and surprise the league with their contributions right away. Kuminga and Moody have both said that they are hungry to learn from the Warriors' future Hall of Famers. So their games could improve at a much faster rate playing alongside the likes of Stephen Curry.
The two rookies showed up huge in the 2021 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and have wowed the league with their game. Kuminga is arguably the best wing/forward in the draft ,while many consider Moody a steal for the Warriors, who has been labelled as 'NBA-ready' by several analysts.
As for James Wiseman, he is reportedly training with Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett in the offseason, and his game is expected to improve by significant proportions.
#5 Golden State Warriors to win the 2022 NBA championship
The boldest of bold predictions is that the Golden State Warriors could win the 2022 NBA championship.
As presently constructed, they are a championship-calibre team, considering everything goes their way, and no injuries plague them. Curry and Green are still in their primes, and Klay Thompson is working out to get back to his All-Star form.
Just having Green, Thompson and Curry on the floor is enough to scare many NBA teams.
They are certain to make the NBA playoffs next season, and by then all their three stars could fire on all cylinders. Even if the Warriors load-manage Thompson and James Wiseman, the Golden State Warriors should be comfortably getting a top 6 seed in the West. All the Golden State Warriors need to do is grab a decent playoff berth and then turn it up a notch in the postseason.
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