Warriors lost one of their most prolific shooters this offseason – Klay Thompson. As the veteran gets busy preparing for the upcoming season with the Dallas Mavericks, his old HC, Steve Kerr admits the wounds are still rather fresh, but moving on is the only option they have. So, he’s trying his best to pick up pieces to move forward and find the Warriors’ new X factor.

In an interview earlier, Kerr said, “You don’t move on from something like that in two days, that’s for sure”. Sure, Klay played a crucial role in the championship runs the Warriors have had in the past decade, but despite the void he has left, Kerr feels the team needs to focus on what lies ahead. “So the answer is something in between like, well, we have to move on because we have no choice.”

For Kerr, this is a new opportunity, to move the pieces, to redefine the Warriors. “I am looking at this as a chance for a lot of guys to take on responsibility and also a chance for our team to establish its own identity.”

Part of moving the pieces does lie in reestablishing their new identity – one without Thompson. “Klay has been such a huge part of that obviously for 12 years. So, this team has to take on a little different identity and Klay’s departure as difficult as it was and as much as we’ll miss him, we got to move on and we gotta do that quickly in order to become a good team,” the HC told Willard & Dibs. But who will step up to take on the challenge?

Steve Kerr has urged 4 Warriors stars to fill the Klay Thompson ‘void’

As the sun shines with its fresh rays of hope on the Warriors, Kerr looks in the other direction at others on the roster to fill the void. He’s now looking at Wiggings, Moses, and others to make significant contributions.

“I want Wiggs shooting, you know, 6-7 threes a game. I want Brandin, I want Moses, I want De’Anthony. I want to be a high volume 3-point shooting team. I think that’s important for us,” he said.

These sentiments were echoed by others at the training camp as well, as many came out mentioning they were instructed to increase the number of 3-pointers they were shooting. They were being instructed and trained to play faster. Including them were Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski.

Podziemski stated how Kerr wanted him to increase his usage rate, and attempt deep-range shots every time he practiced. Even though he did a fair job in his rookie season with 38.5% efficiency from deep range, it will be a challenge for the youngster to maintain his efficiency when he attempts more than double the shots he did last season.

While Kuminga said, “Steve was talking about how we all need to be in shape because we’re gonna be playing faster. I’m trying to get my catch-and-shoot percentage way higher.”

As Kerr finds a new foundation for his team, his staff is searching for the best possible combinations – all for the new identity for the Warriors to perform better than the last season. “This feels like a new beginning for us, whereas last year felt like an extension of who we already were. It gives us a chance to reinvent ourselves a little bit.”

Do you think these players can step up and end the Golden State Warriors identity crisis?