The Warriors are old, banged up and quietly hopeful, and their coach is asking for patience while the pieces sort themselves out.
Steve Kerr has coached the Golden State Warriors through four NBA titles and through a 15-win season, and his 13th year on the bench arrives with some of the quietest expectations of his tenure.
The Warriors went 37-45 a year ago and missed the playoffs, the roster got older instead of younger at the top, and the front office spent the summer making modest moves rather than chasing a star.
That leaves a simple question about what a good season even looks like for this group.
An Old Core and a Big Injury
The ages jump off the page, with point guard Stephen Curry at 38, forward Draymond Green at 36, center Al Horford at 40 and center Kristaps Porzingis at 31 with a long injury history of his own.
Forward Jimmy Butler, now 37, is recovering from a torn ACL, and NBC Sports Bay Area has reported that he is not expected back until the second half of the season.
Curry is also playing through an open question, since he has been eligible to sign an extension since Aug. 29 and nothing is signed yet.
Plenty of good teams lean on a veteran or two in his late thirties, but leaning on this many older players at once means every one of them needs a careful minutes plan from the first week of camp.
Kerr is not pretending any of this away.
"We understand we got some players who are older, and we can't count on them for 82 games. But we have a lot of institutional knowledge."
Where the Hope Comes From
The offseason changed the roster around the edges, and the most interesting addition sits on the bench.
The team brought in Frank Vogel as Kerr's top assistant, a former championship head coach who should sharpen a defense that has to carry this team on the many nights the legs are heavy.
On the floor, the same NBC Sports Bay Area report says rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg is advanced enough to expect heavy minutes with a chance to earn a starting role.
Guard Brandin Podziemski is the other young player worth watching, since somebody from that younger group has to handle more on the nights the veterans rest.
Kerr has talked about winning early and staying near the pack, which is an honest read of a schedule that will not wait for anyone.
What a Good Season Looks Like
A realistic goal is a fight for the play-in range with a chance to climb if the health breaks right, because a fully available Curry, Green and Porzingis with Butler returning at midseason is still a dangerous group in April.
The floor is uglier, since another injury-filled year would leave Golden State back in the lottery with an aging core and fewer answers.
Kerr's 13th season should be judged on something simpler than a seed.
If the young players grow, the defense holds up under Vogel's influence and Curry's future gets settled, the Warriors will head into next summer in a much better spot than the one they started in.
