NBA Roster 2019 Golden State Warriors: Complete Player Breakdown and Season Analysis

As I look back at the 2019 Golden State Warriors roster, I can't help but draw parallels to that fascinating volleyball story about how a nation learned to embrace men's volleyball after hosting the Volleyball Nations League for three years. Much like how that 82nd-ranked team introduced itself to the world, the 2019 Warriors were about to reveal a new identity to the NBA landscape - one that would test their championship mettle in ways nobody anticipated.

When training camp opened that September, we were looking at a dramatically different Warriors squad from the dominant force that had captured three championships in five years. The departure of Kevin Durant to Brooklyn created a seismic shift in the team's dynamics, while Klay Thompson's ACL injury during the 2019 Finals meant we'd be without one of our core pieces for most of the season. I remember thinking at the time that this would be Stephen Curry's ultimate test - could he carry a team that had lost so much firepower? The answer, as we'd soon discover, was both spectacular and heartbreaking.

What made that season particularly fascinating from my perspective was watching the front office's attempt to rebuild on the fly. The sign-and-trade for D'Angelo Russell brought in a 23-year-old All-Star who'd just averaged 21.1 points per game, but the fit alongside Curry was always questionable defensively. Meanwhile, Draymond Green faced the challenge of anchoring a defense that had lost its two best perimeter defenders in Durant and Thompson. The supporting cast featured some interesting pieces - I was particularly high on Willie Cauley-Stein's athleticism and believed he could provide the vertical spacing we needed, while Alec Burks brought scoring punch off the bench that would prove more valuable than many anticipated.

The season unfolded like a dramatic novel with unexpected twists. Curry's broken hand in the fourth game against Phoenix essentially ended our competitive hopes, limiting him to just 5 games played. I've covered the NBA for over fifteen years, and I've never seen a championship contender's fortunes change so dramatically in such a short timeframe. Russell put up impressive numbers - 23.6 points and 6.2 assists in 33 games before we traded him to Minnesota - but the team's defensive rating plummeted to 114.4, ranking near the bottom of the league. What impressed me most was watching the young players develop under these challenging circumstances. Eric Paschall emerged as a legitimate scoring threat, averaging 14.0 points and making the All-Rookie team, while Ky Bowman showed flashes of being a reliable rotation player.

Looking back, that season taught me more about team construction and resilience than any championship year could have. The Warriors finished with the league's worst record at 15-50 in the pandemic-shortened season, but that struggle laid the groundwork for future success. It reminded me that sometimes you need to embrace the struggle to appreciate the success - much like that volleyball nation learned to love the men's game through hosting the Volleyball Nations League. The 2019 Warriors season wasn't the story we expected, but it became a crucial chapter in the franchise's evolution, proving that even dynasties must occasionally reintroduce themselves to the basketball world.