The cloud of anxiety hovering over the Warriors comes not from trepidation related to having a new coach or missing out on Kevin Love or wondering if Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will emerge healthy and whole from their Team USA journey.
The concern is about those already on the journey to being healthy and whole.
Training camp begins in precisely six weeks and the Warriors have no fewer than seven players – roughly half of the roster – in various stages of recovery. And not all are assured of being ready when coach Steve Kerr opens training camp on Sept. 29.
As questions swirl, here is the latest as provided by the team and its training staff.
Shaun Livingston
The 6-foot-7 guard acquired via free agency on July 1 underwent arthroscopic surgery last week on his right big toe.
What happened? Livingston was injured on a late-season dunk attempt while with the Nets. Originally diagnosed as a sprain and placed in a cast, Livingston was reevaluated last week, when it was discovered the injury had not sufficiently healed.
Prognosis: Livingston, 28, will be in a splint for three weeks is expected to miss six to eight" weeks. He is not likely to be ready for training camp.
Andrew Bogut
The 7-foot center has spent most of the summer in Australia but the fractured rib sustained in the final week of the regular season has limited his ability to workout, particularly upper-body exercises.
Prognosis: Though Bogut said as late as June that he continued to experience pain and was taking medication, the Warriors now say the 29-year-old has "completely recovered" and is expected to be a full participant in training camp.
Andre Iguodala
The 6-6 wing missed 12 early-season games with a left hamstring injury and missed seven games over the final month of the regular season as a concession to tendinitis in his right knee.
Iguodala, 30, took an injection in his knee prior to Las Vegas Summer League play in mid-July, and did some light workouts afterward. He continues to progress and is scheduled to be reevaluated this week.
Prognosis: Uncertain but optimistic he will be ready for training camp.
David Lee
The 6-9 power forward underwent "minor" surgery in June to mend a core muscle injury in his pelvic area. The procedure and recovery period prompted the 31-year-old to withdraw from Team USA consideration.
Prognosis: Lee has resumed training and the Warriors say he will be ready for camp. This is the second consecutive offseason during which Lee has undergone surgery.
Festus Ezeli
The 6-11 center missed the 2013-14 season after undergoing right knee surgery in June 2013. Considered healthy the week before Summer League, he was diagnosed with inflammation in his right leg and forced to sit.
Prognosis: Ezeli, 24, is "progressing toward on-court activity" and is expected to be ready for training camp.
Nemanja Nedovic
The 6-3 point guard is perhaps the most mysterious case of all. Though he reportedly sustained a stress fracture in his right foot while working out with the Serbian national team, later reports insisted it was not a fracture.
Prognosis: The Warriors continue to await MRI results from Serbia before declaring anything conclusive. For now, the team is saying the second-year player is coping with right foot inflammation, leaving uncertain his availability for training camp.
Ognjen Kuzmic
Shortly after the July 21 conclusion of Summer League, the 6-11 center was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left leg.
Prognosis: Though the injury ended Kuzmic's bid to join the Serbian national team for the FIBA World Cup, the Warriors say he is expected to be fully recovered by early September and ready for the start of camp.
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To break it down, that's three starters and at least two key reserves in peril. There still is time to mend; the season doesn't begin until Oct. 29. But the Warriors know well the impact of injuries. They sabotage aspirations.
The Warriors entered the 2014 playoffs without Bogut. Iguodala and Lee were gritting their teeth. So when Kerr closes his eyes and goes to sleep, he surely dreams the team is healthier for his beginning than it was for Mark Jackson's finish.
