The Golden State Warriors have taken their time to replace almost every one they lost this off-season with ideal players. They have reconstructed their bench by adding depth to their backcourt.

The Warriors have lost Steve Blake, Jermaine O’Neal, and Jordan Crawford. However, O’Neal and Crawford are still costless agents, but Golden State is unlikely to re-sign them. In their place, the Warriors have acquired Shaun Livingston, Brandon Rush, and Leandro Barbosa.

Shaun Livingston rejuvenated his injury-riddled career last season with the Brooklyn Nets as he was able to lodge 76 out of 82 games. Livingston played an important role last year with the Nets and will have the same responsibilities with the Warriors. Although he will be recovering from a toe injury, Livingston will most likely serve as a combo guard, like he did with Brooklyn, and should continue his fine play.

To add more backcourt depth, the Warriors have brought back Brandon Rush. As a member of the Utah Jazz last season, Rush spent most of his time recovering from an ACL injury he suffered the prior year when he was with the Warriors. Even when Rush returned from his injury, he was rusty and was unable to find his groove, averaging a measly 2.1 points per game on 33 percent shooting. The Warriors are hopeful that Rush can return to his old form, back when he was an adequate scorer off their bench.

Just in case the Brandon Rush project fails, Golden State has plucked Leandro Barbosa, who has the flexibility to play at the one-guard or two-guard. The Brazilian Blur will offer plenty of experience and scoring off the Warriors’ deep backcourt.

Golden State has handed out many non-guaranteed deals already to fill out its training camp roster as well. However, they have not done much to replace Jermaine O’Neal, but they believe that Festus Ezeli will come back healthy this season to take over the backup center role.

The Golden State Warriors have opted to make no changes to their frontcourt but have focused heavily on bringing in complimentary pieces to their backcourt. The Warriors were one of few teams who had the opportunity to acquire Kevin Love but decided not to part ways with Klay Thompson. All in all, they have done already this summer. 

Grade: B

Depth Chart:
PG: Stephen Curry/Shaun Livingston/Nemanja Nedovic/Aaron Craft
SG: Klay Thompson/Brandon Rush/Leandro Barbosa/Justin Holiday
SF: Andre Iguodala/Harrison Barnes/Draymond Green
PF: David Lee/Marreese Speights/James McAdoo/Mitchell Watt
C: Andrew Bogut/Festus Ezeli/Ognjen Kuzmic
Coach: Steve Kerr

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.