The Warriors are making a notable tweak for Friday’s preseason finale against the Trail Blazers: Draymond Green and Charles Bassey will start together for the first time this preseason.
That move sends Gui Santos to the bench, ending his run as the starter at small forward. The rest of the group is exactly what you’d expect, with Stephen Curry at point guard, Brandin Podziemski at shooting guard and Yaxel Lendeborg at small forward.
Steve Kerr said the starters are expected to play 25-30 minutes.
This will be Golden State’s last preseason game before opening the regular season against the Lakers on Wednesday, and Kerr had already hinted he was “leaning toward” a starting five of Curry, Podz, Santos, Lendeborg and Green.
Instead, Kerr opted to use Bassey next to Green so he could evaluate that pairing with a center other than Al Horford. The appeal is obvious: more size, more rim protection, and a sturdier look around the basket. The tradeoff is just as clear, since Santos gives the offense more versatility.
There’s still a strong case for Santos in the regular-season lineup. Starting him would let Lendeborg slide to power forward and, in theory, give Golden State a more dangerous offense.
But Bassey has put together a preseason that demands attention. He’s second on the team in field-goal percentage at 65.4, second in rebounds per game at 6.6 and first in blocks per game at 1.8.
The bigger concern for the Warriors remains on the defensive end. Against the Lakers on Tuesday, Golden State had given up 70 points three minutes into the third quarter, and that was against a team without its superstar, as Luka Doncic was resting.
That performance made one thing obvious: this group doesn’t yet have the healthy personnel to be a great on-ball defense. Lendeborg was among the Warriors who struggled in that game, and Kerr has since said he believes the Dubs can be a “very good” defense if they become more connected.
Friday’s matchup should provide another useful measuring stick. The Blazers are expected to have Deni Avdija, Ja Morant and Damian Lillard in the lineup, and that should give Golden State a real test.
Green was out against the Lakers, and his presence usually covers up a lot of mistakes on that end. Even so, nobody should be expecting an overnight fix. If there’s a sign of progress, it will come in the form of fewer layups and fewer easy drives into the paint.
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