Steve Kerr has already tipped his hand for opening night, and it leaves the Golden State Warriors staring at a tough Luka Doncic problem.
Golden State is planning to go small against the Los Angeles Lakers, with Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green expected to open the season. The group has worked well in two preseason games, but it also comes with a glaring issue: pressure defense on the perimeter. That is exactly the kind of opening Doncic and even Austin Reaves can attack when these teams meet in just over a week.
The bigger concern is Doncic himself. It’s hard to point to a clean one-on-one answer for him anywhere in Kerr’s current rotation. Moses Moody would have been the natural option, but his long-term knee injury takes that possibility off the table.
Golden State does have two of its best perimeter defenders in De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, and both might make more sense against Reaves. But Doncic is a different animal entirely, and those two reserves would be giving up a lot of size against the 6’8” superstar.
The Warriors may have to open with size on Doncic through Santos or Lendeborg, but that would place a heavy burden on either young player. It’s the kind of assignment Doncic and the Lakers will be eager to see.
Draymond Green could also get a look on Doncic at times, especially after showing last season in a Play-In game against Kawhi Leonard and the L.A Clippers that he can still handle that stage. But with Kristaps Porzingis expected to be out, Green will likely spend more time closer to the paint.
That leaves Golden State with a decision it can’t avoid. The Warriors don’t seem to have a true one-on-one stopper for Doncic, so they’ll have to choose between two uncomfortable paths: let him score while trying to keep everyone else quiet, or send help and force the ball out of his hands in hopes that lesser creators have to finish the job.
The warning signs are already there. Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings, rookie Darius Acuff Jr. put up 25 points against the Warriors. Doncic is on a completely different level, and he could be staring at a huge opening-night opportunity.
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Draymond, of course, has never been the type to ignore a public tease, and the exchange quickly added another layer to the rookie-veteran dynamic Warriors fans are watching closely. Lendeborgs play has given Golden State a reason to keep him in the conversation, but the real intrigue now is how long the back-and-forth stays playful and whether the young forward keeps earning bigger responsibility as the preseason winds down. [Read more 🡒]
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The concern is not just about missing practice time, either. Porzingis is dealing with a chronic health issue that can be hard to predict, and rival teams are already watching to see how long Golden State can wait for clarity. One West executive even suggested the Warriors could end up exploring a move before the trade deadline if the situation does not improve, which is the kind of early-season talk no team wants around a player it needs to stabilize the middle of the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Already Have A Yaxel Lendeborg Problem Fans Will Welcome
Yaxel Lendeborgs first stretch with the Warriors has gone about as well as the front office could have hoped. The 11th overall pick has already flashed the kind of versatility that makes him easy to fit into almost any lineup, and Steve Kerr has made it clear that the rookie is not being viewed as a one-position player. That kind of early trust tends to matter in Golden State, where adaptable talent usually finds its way onto the floor.
What follows is the good kind of problem for the Warriors, because Lendeborgs ability to handle different roles is creating real questions about how quickly to ramp up his workload. Golden State likes what it sees enough that the bigger issue may not be whether he can play, but how much it should ask of him this early in the season without wearing him down. [Read more 🡒]