Like always, the Bay has been dancing. The Golden State Warriors, a team that preached ‘depth’ as their strength, is on a ravishing run. The Stephen Curry-anchored franchise sits at 9-2, recently mapping a famous victory on ‘Klay Day’. Curry, conjuring his iron will, finished a 12-0 personal run to sink the Dallas Mavericks and announce his intentions. However, can he repeat the valiant effort during the postseason when the intensity is over the roof?

Austin Rivers doesn’t think so.

When speaking of the Warriors, Rivers boasted about their recent successes. However, the former Clippers feels Curry has an “underwhelming roster” around him. The dire need for a second star, someone who can step in when the Chef can’t, is Rivers’ guess on what the Warriors need to do to beat the Mavericks in a seven-game series.

“Now going to be honest. If you’re asking if this is a championship competitive team, the answer for me is no. They do need a second star. They do not have one and they don’t need a third star, they don’t need two stars, they don’t need a ‘Big 3’. Right now, they got a Big 1. You got Steph, and you got some good role players around you,” Rivers, bluntly said.

So now, who do the Warriors look to trade? Austin Rivers has one prospect for that too. “They need something else. I think you move Kuminga. He has tremendous trade value,” he confessed on the Off Guard podcast.

In his contract year, Kuminga has been playing spectacularly for the Bay. As the third leading scorer, Steve Kerr takes immense pride in seeing his development after their rocky past. However, he too desires a bigger role, where Kerr feels he’s “even better since we’ve brought him off the bench,”

In terms of his numbers, the blistering forward is putting up starter-worthy output. But with a large contract looming, the Warriors may decide to eventually move him. But for this season, “I think it suits him well with this team. Until things change, we’ll keep going with this, but I love what we’re seeing from JK,” Steve Kerr admitted.

Stephen Curry and the Warriors might find a way

From the beginning, Steve Kerr introduced a unique philosophy. He won’t follow a standard rotation. After a difficult time deciding on a traditional unit, he decided to go with his concept of a 12-man rotation. Each Warriors player gets a chance judged by matchups and their utility in the game.

That has amounted to Stephen Curry, a blistering scoring guard and one of the finest players in the league playing only 29.1 minutes. That’s less than three quarters. Kerr does feel his numbers will rack up, but the Bay has found their tune when playing a vigorous rotation. It doesn’t let the opponents settle, and Kerr’s offense keeps showing something different.

But with the system changing, the paramount importance was to have Curry on board. Even though he lacks a second star, the Baby Face Assassin has given Kerr no trouble. Not only is he complying, but Stephen Curry has upgraded his game to fit Kerr’s plans. He is moving the ball, getting teammates involved and when the time comes, taking charge himself.

That led to the Warriors currently holding the second seed in the West. They have the third-best offensive rating, with the fourth-best defense, relying on their pace and transition.

The process is more likely to be successful because it starts with Stephen Curry. Aside from him, the Warriors have been able to depend on the likes of Buddy Hield, Kuminga, and even Andrew Wiggins. They currently have five double-digit scorers, including Curry, a sign that Kerr can defer when Curry isn’t going.

When he spent three games on the sidelines, the Warriors went 3-0. Teamwork has been the song Kerr sang in recent games. Currently, the Warriors are averaging the most steals they have since 1996-97 and 30 assists, the same as their title-winning 2017 campaign.

There’s no question that it will take something miraculous to win with this roster. However, with Stephen Curry buying in and Kerr’s tactical genius paying off, another stunning miracle can’t be ruled out.