Steve Kerr didn’t come back to Golden State chasing another championship run. By his own telling, he returned to try to put the Warriors in position to win down the road, and that mission is already running into a familiar problem in preseason: turnovers.
After a sloppy showing against the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas, Kerr was direct about how far the team still has to go as it works through the new offense.
“We’re not anywhere close to where we want to be.”
He said the Warriors are giving the ball away too much and still haven’t fully grasped the team’s new “five-out” system. That’s no shock in October, when players are shaking off rust and learning something new at the same time. But it also explains why this setup could test Kerr’s patience early, especially with a roster full of veterans who have spent years playing one way.
That includes Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, who were essentially given more leeway with turnovers in the past. Kerr has made it clear that margin no longer exists. Both players have publicly accepted that message and agreed they need to be smarter with the ball, but saying it and actually cleaning it up are two different things.
Curry, in particular, has still had loose moments this preseason, and there’s little reason to think the issue disappears overnight. It’s not about effort. It’s about habits, and those habits have been built over a long time.
Kerr’s decision to return appears tied to that bigger picture. If the two-year deal is about anything, it may be about getting Golden State fully comfortable in this new offense before he’s gone, with the hope that the team can carry that foundation forward.
Whether that plan works is another question. For now, the Warriors look like a team that may need time - maybe a lot of it - and Kerr has already made clear that turnovers are still a major problem.
If he wants them cut down, patience isn’t optional. It’s part of the job.
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