Why Kerr believes Warriors' 2024-25 season is worth celebrating originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

While the Warriors’ 2024-25 NBA season ended on a sour note, Golden State coach Steve Kerr still believes there are plenty of positives to take away from the this campaign.

In speaking to reporters Friday, Kerr revealed why it’s important to not lose sight of all the progress the Warriors made after looking destined for mediocrity midway through the season.

“Well, first of all, pretty good run,” Kerr said. “We’re .500 at midseason, floundering, clearly weren’t going anywhere and then [Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy] makes the trade for [Jimmy Butler] and our fortunes changed entirely. That’s how good Jimmy is. From that point on, we had the No. 1 ranked defense in the league, we were eighth in offense.

“I would say we started the season in Hawaii in training camp, the big focus offensively was shooting a lot of threes, and I believe we finished in the top three or four in the league in 3-point attempts, and that’s with multiple versions of our team. Before the trade, after the trade and everything inbetween.

“So, I think we accomplished a lot of what we wanted from the beginning of the year in terms of how we played. I think the defense really picked up after we got Jimmy for obvious reasons. We get to the conference semis and win Game 1. I think we put ourselves in a great spot, and obviously [Steph Curry’s] injury changed things and Minnesota was great.

“All in all, are there things we can do better? Absolutely. But this was a season where we accomplished a lot, a lot of good things happened, and it’s important to celebrate that.”

The Warriors’ championship dreams came to a screeching halt the moment Steph Curry exited Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals with a hamstring injury — the last time the superstar point guard would see the floor during the 2024-25 season.

But the fact Golden State was even in a position to envision a realistic path toward the NBA Finals is impressive in its own right, as Dunleavy’s blockbuster move to acquire Butler sparked one of the more miraculous midseason turnarounds you’ll ever see in professional basketball.

Dunleavy explained how Golden State’s abrupt end to the season complicates the evaluation process as the Warriors’ front office looks to retool around its stars for another run next year.

“I think it’s a little unsettling, disappointing to be sitting here today in May with a team that has Steve, Steph and Draymond [Green],” Dunleavy told reporters. “We’re always looking to win championships. So, in some ways it’s tough, we obviously fell short of that. But the way this team battled in the second half of the season, winning in the playoffs, winning a seventh game in Houston, going into Minnesota and winning Game 1 and then obviously the injury with Steph really put us behind the eight ball.

“It’s a weird thing to process here, obviously we’re disappointed but I kind of feel good about how things went this year, I just hate how it ended. So, here we are, turning the page, got to figure out some stuff this summer, how do we make our team better? I think from my standpoint going into the postseason, whether we lost in the first round or we went to The Finals, not much would change from my end in terms of we have to be better next year.”

Dunleavy also pointed out how Butler’s addition puts the Warriors in a much better position than Golden State was in entering last offseason.

“I think we made a big jump adding Jimmy Butler. This time last year, I was probably concerned about our ability to have a No. 2 guy,” Dunleavy explained. “We went out this year, we got that. So now I feel better going into next season having a guy like Jimmy on our roster. We’ll build around that with him, Steph, Draymond and some of the other players we have. But I just overall feel like we’re in much better shape right now than we were a year ago and we’ll keep chipping away at this thing.

“As long as Steph, Draymond, Steve … as long as they still got their fastball, we’re going to keep pursuing titles and I think if every year we can be in the mix and we can be in the conversation like we were this year, you need a little bit of luck, you need a little bit of good fortune. We didn’t neccesarily get that right here in the last couple weeks, but if we’re in the mix these guys have a chance and I think that’s the most you could ask for.

“Weird way to process the season, I feel pretty good about it, but I hate that we didn’t find out more about how far this team can go.”

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